The Sufficient (Vol 7) · Hadith 564 (#Ḥadīth #2)
Chapter 5 | The Case of a Man who Forgets his Bearing Testimony but Recognizes his Handwriting
2- عِدَّةٌ مِنْ أَصْحَابِنَا عَنْ أَحْمَدَ بْنِ مُحَمَّدٍ عَنِ الْحُسَيْنِ بْنِ سَعِيدٍ قَالَ كَتَبَ إِلَيْهِ جَعْفَرُ بْنُ عِيسَى جُعِلْتُ فِدَاكَ جَاءَنِي جِيرَانٌ لَنَا بِكِتَابٍ زَعَمُوا أَنَّهُمْ أَشْهَدُونِي عَلَى مَا فِيهِ وَفِي الْكِتَابِ اسْمِي بِخَطِّي قَدْ عَرَفْتُهُ وَلَسْتُ أَذْكُرُ الشَّهَادَةَ وَقَدْ دَعَوْنِي إِلَيْهَا فَأَشْهَدُ لَهُمْ عَلَى مَعْرِفَتِي أَنَّ اسْمِي فِي الْكِتَابِ وَلَسْتُ أَذْكُرُ الشَّهَادَةَ أَوْ لا تَجِبُ لَهُمُ الشَّهَادَةُ عَلَيَّ حَتَّى أَذْكُرَهَا كَانَ اسْمِي فِي الْكِتَابِ بِخَطِّي أَوْ لَمْ يَكُنْ فَكَتَبَ لا تَشْهَدْ.
2. A number of our people have narrated from Ahmad ibn Muhammad from al-Husayn ibn Sa‘id who has narrated the following: “Ja‘far ibn ‘Isa wrote to him (the Imam) , and asked this question. ‘I pray to Allah to keep my soul in service for your cause. Our neighbor has brought to me a document thinking that they had appointed me as a witness for the case; in the document in which there is my name in my handwriting which I have recognized. However, I do not remember my witnessing the case; can I testify to my recognizing that my name is in the document, even though I do not remember my witnessing the case, or is it that testifying is not obligatory unless I remember witnessing the case, regardless, my name is in the document or not?’ He (the Imam) wrote the answer that said, ‘Do not testify.’”
Gradings are classical jarḥ-wa-taʿdīl, name-matched to a rijāl index (not individually re-verified).