In
today’s English, the word used for a
married person who engages in unlawful sexual intercourse is adultery; the
single person who engages in sexual intercourse is
fornication. Unlike English, Arabic has only one word for both cases
– zina. A person has committed zina if
they voluntarily and deliberately perform sexual intercourse with other than
one’s spouse.
The
Qur’anic injunctions with regards to those commit zina were
revealed gradually, that is, bit by bit. The first revelation
concerning the punishment of zina was that a woman guilty
of zina was to be confined to their home until she
died. The second revelation covered both men and women and was a
little specific regarding punishment. Allah (S.W.T) then
revealed:
“The
woman and the man guilty of
illegal sexual intercourse, flog each of them with a hundred
stripes. Let not pity withhold you in their case, in a punishment
prescribed by Allah, if you believe in Allah and the Last Day…”
The
Messenger of Allah (S.A.W) clarified this injunction by saying:
“Take
from me; Allah
has made a decree for them. A virgin (committing zina)
with a virgin: one hundred lashes (for each) and exiling for year (for the
man). And a married (committing zina) with a married:
one hundred lashes and stoning.”
One
of the effects of zina is that it earns the wrath of Allah because His sacred
limits are transgressed. Another of the effects of zina is that it takes away
the goodness which Allah described as the attribute of those who are chaste,
and replaces it with the evil which Allah described as the attribute of the
adulterers, as Allah says:
“Bad
statements are for bad people (or bad women for bad men) and bad people for
bad statements (or bad men for bad women). Good statements are for good people
(or good women for good men) and good people for good statements (or good men
for good women)”
Difference
of opinion exists among Muslim jurists concerning the combining of both stoning
and lashing. There are also different opinions regarding the exiling
of women. The penal punishment of a married adulterer under Islamic
jurisdiction is by stoning to death, as per the preceding hadith and other
hadiths. Ibn Mus ‘ud (r.a) reported that Allah’s Messenger (S.A.W) said:
“The blood of a Muslim, who testifies
that there is no (true) god except Allah and that I am Allah’s Messenger, does
not become permissible except for one of three acts: a married person who
commitszina, one soul for another (killed) soul, and a man who abandons
his deen (religion) and departs from the Jamaa ‘ah (of
Muslims).”
The
Prophet (S.A.W) applied stoning to a number of people during his time. Know
that punishment for the crime of zina acts an atonement of
this sin. The Prophet (S.A.W) said regarding the woman from Ghamid
who was stoned to death:
“She
has repented such a repentance that,
were it to be divided among seventy of Madina’s residents it would cover
them. Have you seen a better repentance than her giving away herself
for Allah.”
The
punishment of those who die without repenting from zina begins
in their grave. As for punishment in the hereafter, Allah Most High
says:
“And they (i.e. the servants of Allah) do not commit zina - And whoever does this shall meet a full penalty. The torment will be doubled to him on the Day of Resurrection, and he will abide therein in disgrace.”
One might think that the only way a person guilty of zina can be forgiven is by being awarded the penal punishment (hadd). The scholars have said that a person who commits a sin should repent between himself and Allah (S.W.T). The repentance will not be accepted if it is done during the pangs of death, as Allah Most High says:
“And of no effect is the repentance of those who continue to do evil deeds until death faces one of them and says: ‘Now I repent’….”
The Messenger of Allah (S.A.W) informed us in the hadith collected by Muslim:
“Whoever repents, before the sun rises from it’s setting (i.e. the west), Allah will forgive him.”
There are many actions a Muslim can do to protect themselves from zina.
1.
Salaat, both obligatory and supererogatory is one of the strongest
fortresses against zina. Allah (S.W.T) said:
“…and
establish prayer, indeed prayer prevents from depravity and wrongdoing….”
2. Regular fasting is another way of suppressing the sexual desire, as Allah’s Apostle (S.A.W) prescribed it for the young people who cannot afford marriage.
We ask Allah Most High to protect us from the evil of zina, accept our righteous actions, and shower us from His bounties in this life and in the Hereafter. And Allah knows best.
