The Book of Hudood

Hadd of Adultery & Fornication

حَدِّ الزِّنَى

Stations

The Book of Dhihar

Glossary

The Ḥadd (Penalty) for Fornication and Adultery

If one commits fornication in the front or back (private parts) of a woman who is not legal for him or with a boy, or if this is done to him, his ḥadd punishment will be stoning if he is muḥṣan (see next section) or 100 lashes and exile for one year if he is not. This is because the Messenger of Allah (SA) said, “Take from me. For Allah has a way made for them: For the virgin who commits fornication with a virgin is 100 lashes and exile for one year, and for a muḥṣan who commits adultery with a muḥṣan is stoning.” 1640

مَنْ أَتَى اْلفَاحِشَةَ فِيْ قُبُلٍ أَوْ دُبُرٍ، مِنِ امْرَأَةٍ لاَ يَمْلِكُهَا، أَوْ مِنْ غُلاَمٍ، أَوْ مَنْ فُعِلَ بِهِ ذٰلِكَ، فَحَدُّهُ الرَّجْمُ، إِنْ كَانَ مُحْصَنًا، أَوْ جَلْدُ مِئَةٍ وَتَغْرِيْبُ عَامٍ، إِنْ لَمْ يَكُنْ مُحْصَنًا، لِقَوْلِ رَسُوْلِ اللهِ : "خُذُوا عَنِّي، قَدْ جَعَلَ اَللَّهُ لَهُنَّ سَبِيلاً، اَلْبِكْرُ بِالْبِكْرِ جَلْدُ مِائَةٍ، وَتَغْرِيبُ عَام، وَالثَّيِّبُ بِالثَّيِّبِ الرَّجْمُ."

[Who Is the Muḥṣan?]

The muḥṣan is the sane, free adult who has previously had intercourse with a wife who has these same attributes, in the front (genitalia), during the course of a valid marriage.

وَالْمُحْصَنُ هُوَ: اْلحُرُّ اْلبَالِغُ اْلعَاقِلُ الَّذِيْ قَدْ وَطِئَ زَوْجَةً مِثْلَهُ فِيْ هَذِهِ الصِّفَاتِ، فِيْ قُبُلِهَا فِيْ نِكَاحٍ صَحِيْحٍ.

1640. (M – from ‘Ubâdah ibn aṣ-Ṣâmit)

[Admissible Proofs of Zinâ]

Fornication can be established only with one of two (admissible proofs):
1. The offender admitting to the act four times, while being explicit in describing its true nature.
2. The testimony of four free, adult, trustworthy men, describing the act of fornication, in one session, and agreeing on their (detailed) testimony concerning the very same act of fornication. 1641

وَلاَيَثْبُتُ الزِّناَ إِلاَّ بِأَحَدِ أَمْرَيْنِ:
١.إِقْرَارٌ بِهِ أَرْبَعَ مَرَّاتٍ، مُصَرِّحًا بِذِكْرِ حَقِيْقَتِهِ
.٢.أَوْ شَهَادَةِ أَرْبَعَةِ رِجَالٍ أَحْرَارٍ عُدُوْلٍ، يَصِفُوْنَ الزِّنَى، وَيَجِيْؤُوْنَ فِيْ مَجْلِسٍ وَاحِدٍ، وَيَتَّفِقُوْنَ عَلىٰ الشَّهَادَةِ بِزِنًى وَاحَدٍ.

1641. In the lifetime of the Prophet (SA), the crime of adultery was never established through four witnesses but only through the confession of the sinners, who sought purification from their sins even though they were encouraged to conceal them and repent in private. When Mâ’iz came to the Prophet (SA) and confessed, the Prophet (SA) asked if he was crazy, and he suggested that he may have only kissed the woman. He also encouraged him to retract his confession. (Ṣaḥeeḥ Muslim, English reference: Book 17, Hadith 4205) When another man came to confess, the Prophet (SA) said to him, “Have you done it like a collyrium (eyeliner) stick when enclosed in its case and a rope in a well?” (Sunan Abi Dâwood, English translation: Book 39, Hadith 4414) This is the testimony the witnesses need to make.

Chapter on the Ḥadd (Penalty) for Unproven Accusation of Fornication

باَبُ حَدِّ اْلقَذْفِ

If one accuses a muḥṣan of zinâ or testifies against him or her, but he does not meet the requirements for a valid testimony, he will be flogged 80 times if the accused demands it. 1642
The muḥṣan (here) is the chaste, sane, free, adult Muslim. 1643

وَمَنْ رَمَى مُحْصَنًا بِالزِّناَ، أَوْ شَهِدَ عَلَيْهِ بِهِ، فلَمْ تَكْمُلِ الشَّهَادَةُ عَلَيْهِ، جُلِدَ ثَمَانِيْنَ جَلْدَةً، إِذَا طَالَبَ اْلمَقْذُوْفُ. وَالْمُحْصَنُ هُوَ اْلحُرُّ اْلبَالِغُ اْلمُسْلِمُ العاقل اْلعَفِيْفُ.

Likewise, the one who accuses a woman involved in li‘ân, or her child, will be punished by the ḥadd (of qadhf). 1644

وَيُحَدُّ مَنْ قَذَفَ الْمُلاَعِنَةَ أَوْ وَلَدَهَا.

Whoever (wrongly) accuses a group in one statement will be punished once if they, or one of them, demands it. If some of them pardon him, the rights of the others are not relinquished.

وَمَنْ قَذَفَ جَمَاعَةً بِكَلِمَةٍ وَاحِدَةٍ، فَحَدٌّ وَاحِدٌ، إِذَا طَالَبُوْا أَوْ وَاحِدٌ مِنْهُمْ. فَإِنْ عَفَى بَعْضُهُمْ، لَمْ يَسْقُطْ حَقُّ غَيْرِهِ.

1642. Islam preserves people’s honor and dignity. One of the five essentials to be enshrined by the Muslim societies is honor; the rest are: spirituality, life, intellect, and property. Islam does not allow the invasion of people’s privacy and the spoiling of their reputation as demonstrated in the culture of the tabloid newspapers. These scandalmongers destroy people’s lives, strain or completely destroy family relations, and spread lewdness and obscenity in the society by normalizing them through their frequent mention; all of this is perpetrated in the name of the freedom of a few deviant people to express their sick ideas. A woman or a man accused of zinâ has the right, in the Islamic judiciary, to require the accuser to produce four trustworthy adult witnesses to attest to having seen the details of the act of fornication. If the accuser is unable to prove the accusation, the victim may demand that he or she be flogged.

1643. (A/SM & Iqnâ‘): Accusing a child who may realistically be a partner in intercourse, like a ten-year-old boy or nine-year-old girl, will make the punishment binding also.

1644. See The Book of Li‘ân under the section for family laws. If a woman is accused by her husband of zinâ, and she then undergoes the process of li‘ân, she is still considered innocent in the eyes of the law, and her honor and dignity are protected. Her accuser will be treated like the accuser of any chaste woman.

Hadd of Adultery & Fornication

( Page : no 158)