A R C H I V E S
Madinat al-Muslimeen Islamic Message Board
| Adultery and Its Punishment |
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| amatullah |
| 05/10/03 at 14:00:58 |
| Adultery and Its Punishment Adil Salahi, Arab News Staff Q. Could you please explain how serious is the adultery offense from the Islamic point of view? Please state the punishment for adulterers who are married, and also if only one of them is married. Is it true that it is a sin for which God accepts no repentance? (Name and address withheld) A. Any sexual intercourse between a man and a woman when they are not married to each other is strictly forbidden in Islam. Adultery is the English word for unlawful sexual intercourse between a married man and a married woman who is not his lawful wife. If those who commit the offense are not married, then it is called fornication. It is important to make the distinction because the punishment is different. No punishment is applicable for any offense before it is proven according to the criterion set by God for such a proof. In the case of both fornication and adultery, the proof required is a free confession or four witnesses who testify to having seen the offense being committed. Anyone who accuses a person of adultery or fornication without providing such a proof, i.e. four witnesses, is himself liable to be punished with 80 lashes for false accusation. No one is encouraged to make a confession to adultery or fornication. On the contrary, a person who voluntarily offers a confession is advised to withdraw his or her confession. The judge must try to persuade them to withdraw, and if they withdraw the confession, that is immediately accepted and the matter is closed. The point is that Islam does not like punishment to be implemented. It wants punishment to be primarily a deterrent. If the offense is proven, either through a repeated confession that will not be withdrawn or the testimony of four witnesses, who must be cross-examined, then there is no option but to apply the punishment, because it is stated by God, and no one can amend, modify or reduce what God legislates. The punishment stated in the Qur’an is 100 lashes for each of the two parties. All scholars agree that this is the punishment for fornication and most scholars also agree that the punishment for adultery is stoning, which applies to both partners. If one of them is married and the other is not, then stoning is applied to the married partner, while the other receives the punishment of fornication. A minority of scholars, many of them are highly eminent, say that the stoning punishment is not mandatory, i.e. hadd, but discretionary, i.e. ta’zeer. A mandatory punishment cannot be modified, but a discretionary one is open to change or modification either to reduce or increase it. It is not true to say that no repentance of adultery can be accepted. God says in the Qur’an: “God does not forgive that partners should be associated with Him, but He forgives any lesser sin to whomever He wills.” (4: 116) Even in the case of associating partners with God, if the person who does it changes his position and declares his belief in God’s oneness and in Muhammad (peace be upon him) as God’s messenger, he is forgiven his past. This means that if a person is guilty of adultery, he or she may repent and seek God’s forgiveness, which may be forthcoming once the repentance is sincere and coupled with a resolve not to repeat the offense. A Congregation With One’s Wife Q. I live at home with my wife only, and there is a mosque nearby. I wonder whether it is better to offer my obligatory prayers with my wife in congregation, or to go to the mosque? M.C. Moosa A. You should do a mixture of both so that you are not isolated from the local neighborhood, and you allow your wife a chance to pray in congregation. Moreover, if there are facilities for women in the mosque, your wife could go with you for the congregational prayer. This would be the best. Therefore, if she cannot go to the mosque, and she is ready to pray with you, you may pray together. When she is busy and could delay the prayer until she has finished, then you go and offer the prayer in the mosque. What you may also do is that you pray the obligatory prayer in the mosque, and then repeat it with your wife. It counts for you as a Sunnah, and for her as an obligatory prayer in congregation. This was the practice of Muadh ibn Jabal, who used to offer the Isha prayer with the Prophet and then go to his people and lead them in their congregation. Arab News Islam 18 April 2003 |
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