4. [an-Nisa, Medina 92 ]
The Quranic Text & Ali’s Version:
وَاللاَّتِي
يَأْتِينَ
الْفَاحِشَةَ
مِن
نِّسَآئِكُمْ
...
4: 15. If any of your women are guilty of lewdness,
C523. Most commentators understand this to refer to adultery or fornication; in that case they consider that the punishment was altered by the later verse, 24:2.
But I think it refers to unnatural crime between women, analogous to unnatural crime between men in 4:16 below; because,
1. no punishment is specified here for the man, as would be the case where a man was involved in the crime;
2. the word, al laati, the purely feminine plural of al lati, is used for the parties to the crime;
3. the punishment is indefinite; see the next note but one.
... فَاسْتَشْهِدُواْ عَلَيْهِنَّ أَرْبَعةً مِّنكُمْ...
take the evidence of four (reliable) witnesses from amongst you against them;
C524. To protect the honor of women, stricter evidence is required, i.e., the evidence of four instead of the usual two witnesses.
It is the same for adultery (see 24:4.).
... فَإِن شَهِدُواْ فَأَمْسِكُوهُنَّ فِي الْبُيُوتِ حَتَّىَ يَتَوَفَّاهُنَّ الْمَوْتُ ...
and if they testify, confine them to houses until death do claim them,
... أَوْ يَجْعَلَ اللّهُ لَهُنَّ سَبِيلاً ﴿١٥﴾
or Allah ordain for them some (other) way.
C525. Keep them in prison until some definite order is received. Those who take the crime to be adultery or fornication construe this definite order ("some other way") to mean some definite pronouncement by the Prophet under inspiration; this was the punishment of flogging under 24:2. for fornication, and stoning to death under the Prophet's directives for adultery.
If we understand the crime to be unnatural crime, we might presume, in the absence of any definite order ("some other way") that the punishment would be similar to that for men in the next verse. The Prophet's Sunnah has prescribed capital punishment although the exact method is left indefinite. (R).
وَاللَّذَانَ
يَأْتِيَانِهَا
مِنكُمْ
فَآذُوهُمَا
فَإِن
تَابَا
...
4: 16. If two men among you are guilty of lewdness, punish them both.
... وَأَصْلَحَا فَأَعْرِضُواْ عَنْهُمَا...
If they repent and amend, leave them alone;
... إِنَّ اللّهَ كَانَ تَوَّابًا رَّحِيمًا ﴿١٦﴾
for Allah is Oft-Returning, Most Merciful.
إِنَّمَا
التَّوْبَةُ
عَلَى
اللّهِ
لِلَّذِينَ
يَعْمَلُونَ
السُّوَءَ
بِجَهَالَةٍ
ثُمَّ
يَتُوبُونَ
مِن
قَرِيبٍ
...
4: 17. Allah accepts the repentance of those who do evil in ignorance and repent soon afterwards;
... فَأُوْلَـئِكَ يَتُوبُ اللّهُ عَلَيْهِمْ ...
to them will Allah turn in mercy;
... وَكَانَ اللّهُ عَلِيماً حَكِيماً ﴿١٧﴾
for Allah is full of knowledge and wisdom.
وَلَيْسَتِ
التَّوْبَةُ
لِلَّذِينَ
يَعْمَلُونَ
السَّيِّئَاتِ...
4: 18. Of no effect is the repentance of those who continue to do evil,
C526. Note the fine touch.
A sin may be fashionable, and people may sin together without compunction. When one of them is faced with Death, he repents, but that sort of repentance is no good.
... حَتَّى إِذَا حَضَرَ أَحَدَهُمُ الْمَوْتُ قَالَ إِنِّي تُبْتُ الآنَ...
until death faces one of them, and he says, "Now have I repented indeed;"
... وَلاَ الَّذِينَ يَمُوتُونَ وَهُمْ كُفَّارٌ ...
nor of those who die rejecting faith: .
... أُوْلَـئِكَ أَعْتَدْنَا لَهُمْ عَذَابًا أَلِيمًا ﴿١٨﴾
for them have We prepared a punishment most grievous.
4: 15 Asad And as for those of your women who become guilty of immoral conduct, call upon four from among you who have witnessed their guilt; and if these bear witness thereto, confine the guilty women to their houses until death takes them away or God opens for them a way [through repentance].
Pickthall As for those of your women who are guilty of lewdness, call to witness four of you against them. And if they testify (to the truth of the allegation) then confine them to the houses until death take them or (until) Allah appoint for them a way (through new legislation).
Transliteration Walla_ti ya'tinal fa_hisyata min nisa_'ikum fastasyhidu_'alaihinna arba'atam minkum, fa in syahidu_ fa amsiku_hunna fil buyu_ti hatta_ yatawaffa_hunnal mautu au yaj'alalla_hu lahunna sabila_(n).
4: 16
Asad And punish both of the guilty parties [note 13] but if they both repent and mend their ways, leave them alone; for, behold, God is an acceptor of repentance, a dispenser of grace [note 14].
Pickthall And as for the two of you who are guilty thereof, punish them both. And if they repent and improve, then let them be. Lo! Allah is Relenting, Merciful.
Transliteration Wallaza_ni ya'tiya_niha_ minkum fa a_zu_huma_, fa in ta_ba_ wa aslaha_ fa a'ridu_ 'anhuma_, innalla_ha ka_na tawwa_bar rahima_(n).
4: 17
Pickthall Forgiveness is only incumbent on Allah toward those who do evil in ignorance (and) then turn quickly (in repentance) to Allah. These are they toward whom Allah relenteth. Allah is ever Knower, Wise.
Transliteration Innamat taubatu 'alalla_hi lillazina ya'malu_nas su_'a bi jaha_latin summa yatu_bu_na min qaribin fa ula_'ika yatu_bulla_hu 'alaihim, wa ka_nalla_hu 'aliman hakima_(n).
4: 18
Pickthall The forgiveness is not for those who do ill deeds until, when death attendeth upon one of them, he saith: Lo! I repent now; nor yet for those who die while they are disbelievers. For such We have prepared a painful doom.
Transliteration Wa laisatit taubatu lillazina ya'malu_nas sayyi'a_t(i), hatta_ iza_ hadara ahadahumul mautu qa_la inni tubtul a_na wa lallazina yamu_tu_na wa hum kuffa_r(un), ula_'ika a'tadna_ lahum'aza_ban alima_(n).
[[ Ali’s notes - 523 Most commentators understand this to refer to adultery or fornication; in that case they consider that the punishment was altered by the later verse, xxiv. 2. (4.15)
524 To protect the honor of women, stricter evidence is required, i.e., the evidence of four instead of the usual two witnesses. It is the same for adultery (see xxiv. 4.). (4.15)
525 Keep them in prison until some definite order is received. Those who take the crime to be adultery or fornication construe this definite order ("some other way") to mean some definite pronouncement by the Prophet under inspiration; this was the punishment of flogging under xxiv. 2, for fornication, and stoning to death under the Prophet's directives for adultery. (4.15)
526 Note the fine touch. A sin may be fashionable, and people may sin together without compunction. When one of them is faced with Death, he repents, but that sort of repentance is no good. (4.18) ]]
[[ Asad’s note – 14 - Some of the commentators attribute to the term ‘fahishah’ (here rendered as “immoral conduct”) the meaning of “adultery” or “fornication” and are, consequently, of the opinion that this verse has been “abrogated” by 24:2, which lays down the punishment of one hundred stripes for each of the guilty parties. This unwarranted assumption must, however, be rejected. Quite apart from the impossibility of admitting that any passage of the Quran could have been “abrogated” by another of its passages (see surah 2, note 87), the expression ‘fahishah’ does not, by itself, connote illicit sexual intercourse: it signifies anything that is grossly immodest, unseemly, lewd, indecent or abominable in word of in deed (cf. Lane Vl, 2344f.), and is by no means restricted to sexual transgressions.
Read in this context, and in conjunction with 24:2, this expression obviously denotes here immoral conduct not necessarily amounting to what is termed “zina” (i.e., “adultery” or “fornication”), and therefore redeemable by sincere repentance (in contrast to a proven act of zina, which is punishable by flogging).
It is noteworthy that in all cases of alleged sexual transgressions or misbehavior the Quran stipulates the direct eveidence of four witnesses ( instead of the two required in all other judicial cases). ………see 24:4]]
[[ Ruby’s note - The question is that if it not adultery or fornication (‘zina’) then why four witnesses are required ? And how one defines ‘fahishah’ ??]]
=====================================
12. [Yusuf, Mecca 53]
12: 33
Pickthall He said: O my Lord! Prison is more dear than that unto which they urge me, and if Thou fend not off their wiles from me I shall incline unto them and become of the foolish.
Yuksel He said, "My Lord, prison is better to me than what they are inviting me to do. If You do not turn their scheming away from me, I will fall for them and be of the ignorant."
Transliteration Qa_la rabbis sijnu ahabbu ilayya mimma_ yad'u_nani ilaih(i), wa illa_ tasrif 'anni kaidahunna asbu ilaihinna wa akum minal ja_hilin(a).
=====================================
24. [ an-Nur, Median 102 ]
The Quranic Text & Ali’s Version:
الزَّانِيَةُ
وَالزَّانِي
...
24: 2. The woman and the man guilty of adultery or fornication --
C2954. Zina includes sexual intercourse between a man and a woman not married to each other.
It therefore applies both to adultery (which implies that one or both of the parties are married to a person or persons other than the ones concerned) and to fornication, which, in its strict signification, implies that both parties are unmarried.
The law of marriage and divorce is made easy in Islam, so that there may be the less temptation for intercourse outside the well-defined incidents of marriage. This makes for greater self-respect for both man and woman.
Other sex offences are also punishable, but this Section applies strictly to Zina as above defined.
[Although Zina covers both fornication and adultery, in the opinion of Muslim justice, the punishment laid down here applies only to un-married persons. As for married persons, their punishment, according to the Sunnah of the Prophet (peace be on him), is stoning to death. (Eds.)]
... فَاجْلِدُوا كُلَّ وَاحِدٍ مِّنْهُمَا مِئَةَ جَلْدَةٍ...
flog each of them with a hundred stripes:
...وَلَا تَأْخُذْكُم بِهِمَا رَأْفَةٌ فِي دِينِ اللَّهِ إِن كُنتُمْ تُؤْمِنُونَ بِاللَّهِ وَالْيَوْمِ الْآخِرِ...
let not compassion move you in their case, in a matter prescribed by Allah, if ye believe in Allah and the Last Day:
...وَلْيَشْهَدْ عَذَابَهُمَا طَائِفَةٌ مِّنَ الْمُؤْمِنِينَ ﴿٢﴾
and let a party of the Believers witness their punishment.
C2956. The punishment should be open, in order to be deterrent.
الزَّانِي
لَا يَنكِحُ
إلَّا زَانِيَةً
أَوْ مُشْرِكَةً...
24: 3. Let no man guilty of adultery or fornication marry any but a woman similarly guilty,
...وَالزَّانِيَةُ لَا يَنكِحُهَا إِلَّا زَانٍ أَوْ مُشْرِكٌ...
or an Unbeliever nor let any but such a man or an Unbeliever marry such a woman:
...وَحُرِّمَ ذَلِكَ عَلَى الْمُؤْمِنِينَ ﴿٣﴾
to the Believers such a thing is forbidden.
C2957. Islam commands sex purity, for men and for women, at all times,
- before marriage, during marriage, and after the dissolution of marriage.
Those guilty of illicit practices are shut out of the marriage circle of chaste men and women.
وَالَّذِينَ
يَرْمُونَ
الْمُحْصَنَاتِ
ثُمَّ لَمْ
يَأْتُوا بِأَرْبَعَةِ
شُهَدَاء...
24: 4. And those who launch a charge against chaste women, and produce not four witnesses, (to support their allegation) --
...فَاجْلِدُوهُمْ ثَمَانِينَ جَلْدَةً وَلَا تَقْبَلُوا لَهُمْ شَهَادَةً أَبَدًا...
flog them with eighty stripes: and reject their evidence ever after:
C2958. The most serious notice is taken of people who put forward slanders or scandalous suggestions about women without adequate evidence.
If anything is said against a woman's chastity, it should be supported by evidence twice as strong as would ordinarily be required for business transactions, or even in murder cases. That is, four witnesses would be required instead of two. Failing such preponderating evidence, the slanderer should himself be treated as a wicked transgressor and punished with eighty stripes. Not only would he be subjected to this disgraceful form of punishment, but he would be deprived of the citizen's right of giving evidence in all matters unless he repents and reforms, in which case he can be readmitted to be a competent witness.
The verse lays down the punishment for slandering "chaste women", which by consensus of opinion also covers slandering chaste men.
Chaste women have been specifically mentioned, according to Commentators, because slandering them is more abhorrent. (Eds).
...وَأُوْلَئِكَ هُمُ الْفَاسِقُونَ ﴿٤﴾
for such men are wicked transgressors --
إِلَّا
الَّذِينَ
تَابُوا مِن
بَعْدِ ذَلِكَ
وَأَصْلَحُوا
...
24: 5. Unless they repent thereafter and mend (their conduct):
C2959. The punishment of stripes is inflicted in any case for unsupported slander. But the deprivation of the civic right of giving evidence can be cancelled by the man's subsequent conduct, if he repents, shows that he is sorry for what he did, and that he would not in future support by his statement anything for which he has not the fullest evidence.
Secular courts do not enforce these principles, as their standards are lower than those which good Muslims set for themselves, but good Muslims must understand and act on the underlying principles, which protect the honour of womanhood.
Abu Hanifa considers that neither the stripes nor the incompetence for giving future evidence is cancelled by repentance, but only the spiritual stigma of being "wicked transgressors". This of course is the more serious punishment, though it cannot be enforced in the Courts.
... فَإِنَّ اللَّهَ غَفُورٌ رَّحِيمٌ ﴿٥﴾
for Allah is Oft-Forgiving, Most Merciful.
وَالَّذِينَ
يَرْمُونَ
أَزْوَاجَهُمْ
وَلَمْ يَكُن
لَّهُمْ شُهَدَاء
إِلَّا
أَنفُسُهُمْ...
24: 6. And for those who launch a charge against their spouses, and have (in support) no evidence but their own --
C2960. The case of married persons is different from that of outsiders. If one of them accuses the other of unchastity, the accusation partly reflects on the accuser as well.
Moreover, the link which unites married people, even where differences supervene, is sure to act as a steadying influence against the concoction of false charges of unchastity particularly where divorce is allowed (as in Islam) for reasons other than unchastity.
Suppose a husband catches a wife in adultery. In the nature of things four witnesses - or even one outside witness - would be impossible. Yet after such an experience it is against human nature that he can live a normal married life. The matter is then left to the honour of the two spouses.
If the husband can solemnly swear four times to the fact, and in addition invoke a curse on himself if he lies, that is prima facie evidence of the wife's guilt. But if the wife swears similarly four times and similarly invokes a curse on herself, she is in law acquitted of the guilt. If she does not take this step, the charge is held proved and the punishment follows.
In either case the marriage is dissolved, as it is against human nature that the parties can live together happily after such an incident.
...فَشَهَادَةُ أَحَدِهِمْ أَرْبَعُ شَهَادَاتٍ بِاللَّهِ إِنَّهُ لَمِنَ الصَّادِقِينَ ﴿٦﴾
their solitary evidence (can be received) if they bear witness four times (with an oath) by Allah that they are solemnly telling the truth;
وَالْخَامِسَةُ
أَنَّ
لَعْنَتَ اللَّهِ
عَلَيْهِ إِن
كَانَ مِنَ
الْكَاذِبِينَ
﴿٧﴾
24: 7. And the fifth (oath) (should be) that they solemnly invoke the curse of Allah on themselves if they tell a lie.
وَيَدْرَأُ
عَنْهَا
الْعَذَابَ
أَنْ تَشْهَدَ
أَرْبَعَ شَهَادَاتٍ
بِاللَّهِ...
24: 8. But it would avert the punishment from the wife, if she bears witness four times (with an oath) by Allah,
...إِنَّهُ لَمِنَ الْكَاذِبِينَ ﴿٨﴾
that (her husband) is telling a lie;
وَالْخَامِسَةَ
أَنَّ
غَضَبَ اللَّهِ
عَلَيْهَا إِن
كَانَ مِنَ
الصَّادِقِينَ
﴿٩﴾
24: 9. And the fifth (oath) should be that she solemnly invokes the wrath of Allah on herself if (her accuser) is telling the truth.
Pickthall’s Version:
24: 2
Pickthall The adulterer and the adulteress, scourge ye each one of them (with) a hundred stripes. And let not pity for the twain withhold you from obedience to Allah, if ye believe in Allah and the Last Day. And let a party of believers witness their punishment.
Transliteration Az za_niyatu waz za_ni faj lidu_ kul la wa_hidim minhuma_ miata jaldatiw wa la_ tahuzkum bihima_ rafatun fi dinil la_hi in kuntum tuminu_na bil la_hi wal yaumil a_khir wal yashad aza_bahuma_ ta_ ifatum minal muminin
24: 3
Pickthall The adulterer shall not marry save an adulteress or an idolatress, and the adulteress none shall marry save an adulterer or an idolater. All that is forbidden unto believers.
Transliteration Az za_ni la_ yankihu il la_ za_niyatan au musrikataw waz za_niyatu la_ yankihuha_ il la_ za_nin au musrik wa hur rima za_lika alal muminin
24: 4
Pickthall And those who accuse honorable women but bring not four witnesses, scourge them (with) eighty stripes and never (afterward) accept their testimony--They indeed are evildoers--
Transliteration Wal lazina yarmu_nal muhsana_ti sum ma lam yatu_ bi arba'ati suhada_ a faj lidu_hum sama_nina jaldataw wa la_ taqbalu_ lahum saha_datan abada_ wa ula_ ika humul fa_siqu_n
24: 5
Pickthall Save those who afterward repent and make amends. (For such) lo! Allah is Forgiving, Merciful.
Transliteration Il lal lazina ta_bu_ mim badi za_lika wa aslahu_ fa in nal la_ha gafu_rur rahim
24: 6
Pickthall As for those who accuse their wives but have no witnesses except themselves; let the testimony of one of them be four testimonies, (swearing) by Allah that he is of those who speak the truth;
Transliteration Wal lazina yarmu_na azwa_jahum wa lam yakul lahum suhada_ u il la_ a usuhum fasaha_datu ahadihim arbau saha_da_tim bil la_hi in nahu_ laminas sa_diqin
24: 7
Pickthall And yet a fifth, invoking the curse of Allah on him if he is of those who lie.
Transliteration Wal ha_misatu an na lanatal la_hi alaihi in ka_na minal ka_zibin
24: 8
Pickthall And it shall avert the punishment from her if she bear witness before Allah four times that the thing he saith is indeed false,
Transliteration Wa yadra u anhal aza_ba an tashada arba'a saha_da_tim bil la_hi in nahu_ laminal ka_zibin
24: 9
Pickthall And a fifth (time) that the wrath of Allah be upon her if he speaketh truth.
Transliteration Wal ha_misata an na gadabal la_hi alaiha_ in ka_na minas sa_diqin