>Punishment for Adultery and Homosexuality

>Salaam alaikum.

(You might need to check out these related articles first : http://takhlees.blogspot.com/search/label/zina )

The punishments of stoning and death penalty for adultery and homosexuality is in contradiction with the Quranic commands as we will see in this article, and therefore is unjust and should be rejected and opposed by those who really believe in The Quran. 

Let’s look into it.


STONING / RAJM


The Quran has associated the practice of stoning with the kafireen:

Chapter/Verse 11/91: They said: O Shu’aib! we do not understand much of what you say and most surely we see you to be weak among us, and were it not for your family we would surely STONE you, and you are not mighty against us. 

18/20: For surely if they prevail against you they would STONE you to death or force you back to their religion, and then you will never succeed.

19/46: He said: Do you dislike my gods, O Ibrahim? If you do not desist I will certainly STONE you, and leave me for a time.

26/116: They said: If you desist not, O Nuh, you shall most certainly be of those STONED to death.

36/18: They said: Surely we augur evil from you; if you do not desist, we will certainly STONE you, and there shall certainly afflict you a painful chastisement from us.

Therefore any so-called Muslim who believes in, supports or carry outs such injustice is actually among the kafireen/rejectors/disbelievers.


PUNISHMENT FOR ADULTERY / ZINA / FAHISHA


In The Quran, the punishment of flogging/lashing is for three types of women who commit the crime: The Azwaaj/wives, al-muhsanaat/secured women and fatayaat/young women.

The punishment for azwaaj and al-muhsanaat(alongwith their accomplice, the zaani) committing zina(adultery) / fahisha(lewdness) is mentioned in 24/2-9, while the punishment for fatayaat is mentioned in 4/25.

Both the zaaniya and the zaani are to be lashed 100 stripes each. A group of al-momineen should be allowed to witness their punishment:

24/2: The zaaniya/”adulteress” and the zaani/”adulterer”, lash each one of them a hundred stripes. And let not pity for the two withhold you in the deen of Allah, if ye believe in Allah and the Last Day. And let a party of believers witness their punishment.

The above verses are about al-muhsanaat(24/4) and azwaaj(24/6). The punishment for fatayaat is in 4/25. Their punishment is half that of al-muhsinaat, that is 50 lashes.

4/25: If any of you have not the means wherewith to wed al-muhsanaat, they may wed believing girls/fatayat from among those whom your right hands possess: And Allah hath full knowledge about your faith. Ye are one from another: Wed them with the leave of their owners, and give them their dowers, according to what is reasonable: They should be chaste, not lustful, nor taking paramours: when they are taken in wedlock, if they fall into lewdness/FAHISHA, their punishment is half that for al-muhsanaat. This (permission) is for those among you who fear sin; but it is better for you that ye practise self-restraint. And Allah is Oft-forgiving, Most Merciful.

The punishment for women(azwaaj and milke yameen) of the Nabi is double if they commit fahisha:

33/30: O women of the prophet! Whoever of you commits an open lewedness/fahisha, the punishment shall be increased to her doubly; and that is easy for Allah.

If the women have committed open lewdness, the man can take back from whatever he had given to them:

4/19: O ye who believe! Ye are forbidden to inherit women against their will. Nor should ye treat them with harshness, that ye may Take away part of the dower ye have given them,-except where they have been guilty of open lewdness/FAHISHA; on the contrary live with them on a footing of kindness and equity. If ye take a dislike to them it may be that ye dislike a thing, and Allah brings about through it a great deal of good.

Such women can be expelled from their homes:

65/1: O Prophet! When ye (men) put away women, put them away for their (legal) period and reckon the period, and keep your duty to Allah, your Lord. Expel them not from their houses nor let them go forth unless they commit open lewdness/FAHISHA. Such are the limits (imposed by) Allah; and whoso transgresseth Allah’s limits, he verily wrongeth his soul. Thou knowest not: it may be that Allah will afterward bring some new thing to pass.

Furthermore momin men and women are forbidden from marrying the zaniya and the zaani. The zaani cannot marry except a zaaniya or mushrikah. And none can marry the zaaniya except a zaani or mushrik:

24/3: The zaani shall not marry except an zaaniya or a mushrikah, and the zaaniya none shall marry her except a zaani or an mushrik. And that is forbidden upon al-momineen/the believers. 

PUNISHMENT FOR PRACTICING HOMOSEXUALITY / AL-FAHISHA

The word used in the Quran when talking about practicing homosexuality is ‘AL-fahisha’. (and not just ‘fahisha’ as used when talking about zina)

The punishment for practicing lesbians:

* four witnesses should be appointed over them. If they witness, the women should be restricted to their homes until death takes them or Allah makes a way out for them:

4/15: And as for those who are guilty of AL-FAHISHA from AMONG YOUR WOMEN, call to witnesses against them four (witnesses) from among you; then if they bear witness confine them to the houses until death takes them away or Allah opens some way for them.

Punishment for practicing gays:


* Men found guilty of committing homosexuality do not require witnesses over them.
* They can be be made to “hurt”, but cannot be restricted to homes.
* If they repent and reform, then they should not be bothered:

4/16: And as for the two (who are guilty of AL-FAHISHA) from AMONG YOU(MEN), “hurt” them both; then if they repent and amend, turn aside from them; surely Allah is Oft-returning (to mercy), the Merciful.

It is also important to note that “among YOUR WOMEN” and “among YOU” implies that the punishment for practicing homosexuality can only be given by the family of the offenders, and no one else has the right to enforce it, IMHO. It is different in case of zina because of the transaction made between two parties, i.e. the payment made by the husband TO the wife(zawj) and/or FOR the ‘right hands owned'(milke-yameen), and for the betrayal of the woman as she was reserved for the husband.

Moreover The Quran does not forbid the believing men and women from marrying people known to have homosexual feelings. Nabi Lut (peace be upon him) actually offered his daughters in marriage to homosexual men:

11/78: … He(Lut) said: O my people! these are my daughters — they are purer for you, …

15/71: He said: These are my daughters, if you will do (aught).

Nor do I find any indication that committing homosexual misconduct breaks the marriage, as it can in case of Zina, IMHO. 

—
Fahad Ali Khan
http://takhlees.blogspot.com/

>Zina=Public sex / Pornography?

>I have come across this (mis)understanding  number of times that zina is sex in public or pornography. Verse 24/4 is used to justify the understanding of az-zina as pornography/public sex. It is said that verse 24/4 requires four eye witnesses for zina to occur.

That is incorrect. Four witnesses are necessary only when the accuser is someone other than the husband(24/4). When the husband accuses the wife, the other witnesses are not required(24/6). Then is is up to the wife to accept or reject the accusation of zina even without any other witnesses. Which disproves az-zina=public sex or that it requires eye witnesses to occur.

24/4: And those who accuse al-muhsanaat/secured/married women, then do not bring four witnesses, therefore you shall lash them eighty lashes, and do not accept any testimonies from them ever; and these it is that are the fasiqeen/wicked, 

24/5: Except those who repent after that and reform, therefore Allah is certainly shielding, merciful.

24/6: And those who accuse their azwaaj, and have no witnesses for them except themselves, then the testimony of one of them is four testimonies with Allah that he is from the truthful ones.

Further proof:

The wife of Al-Aziz said that she did not betray him in absence(since her attempt to commit zina was unsuccessful).

12/52, “…I have not betrayed him in the absence“

It shows that the wife’s betrayal(which is what az-zina actually is) does not have to be public in order for az-zina to occur.

Also, verse 4/34 tells that ‘as-saalihat’ women are those who guard what is to be guarded(which includes their chastity) in absence(of witnesses).

4/34: …the saalihat/reforming/reconciling women are devoted, watching over for the absence with what Allah watches over;…

And according to 7/33, al-fawahish/lewd acts are forbidden in private just as in public.

7/33: Say: Certainly, my Lord has prohibited al-fawahish, that which is apparent of it as well as that which is hidden of it, …

Moreover it is just nonsense to claim that cheating or betraying is OK behind closed doors.

—
Fahad.

>Zina

>Salaam alaikum,

If we pay close attention to the context of 24/2(the verse ordaining punishment for the az-zina), we realize that for az-zina to occur, az-zaani can be any man, “married” or not, but az-zaaniya must be a “married” woman:

Verse 24/4 talks about those who accuse al-muhsanaat of committing az-zina:

24/4: And those who accuse al-muhsanaat, then do not bring four witnesses, therefore you shall lash them eighty lashes,….

Al-muhsanaat is a category of women, coming from the root Ha-Saad-Nun, meaning secured, reserved, immune, fortified/impenetrable, inaccessible etc. According to verse 4/25, a woman is made muhsana through nikah/”marriage”. That is, a Muhsana is a “married” woman.

Then again, in 24/6 it talks about husbands accusing their wives(i.e. women “married” to them):

24/6: And those who accuse their azwaaj, and have no witnesses for them except themselves,….

Both verses are about the accusation of women, and more importantly married women, and not about men. Why not about men? Because the man’s role was secondary; the act could not have been az-zina, had the woman not been “married”. Az-zina, therefore, is a polyandrous act.

I think this is why verse 24/2 mentions the zaainya first and the zaani second, as it could not have been az-zina without the polyandrous woman. Everywhere else that I can remember, the man is always mentioned first, and the woman second.(Except in the case of al-fahisha in 4/15-16 where the women are also mentioned first)

Even in the story of Yusuf, the woman who tried to force herself on him was married. Az-zina therefore, being a polyandrous act, betrays the trust of the husband, (which of course she was unsucessful at):

12/52, “…I have not akhnu-hu/betrayed him in the absence“,

(…she said referring to her husband.)

Therefore the punishment of az-zina is for the act of committing and assisting polyandry, i.e. for the woman betraying her husband, and for the man “accessing” the woman reserved for her husband.

More later inshaallah.

—
Fahad