Verses 1–10
بِسْمِاللَّهِالرَّحْمَنِالرَّحِيمِ
In the name of God, the most Merciful, the most Compassionate
The theme of this chapter is outlined by its opening verse: (This is) a chapter which We have revealed and made obligatory and in which We have revealed clear communications so that you may be mindful” (). It states certain obligatory rules, followed by some relevant religious teachings that help the believers become heedful of them. This is certainly a Medinite chapter, as testified by its content. A key verse in this chapter is the Verse of Light ().
Commentary
سُورَةٌ أَنْزَلْنَاهَا وَفَرَضْنَاهَا وَأَنْزَلْنَا فِيهَا آيَاتٍ بَيِّنَاتٍ لَعَلَّكُمْ تَذَكَّرُونَ ١
(24:1) (This is) a chapter (sūrah) which We have revealed and made obligatory (faraḍnāhā, from farḍ) and in which We have revealed clear communications so that you may be mindful.
A sūrah (chapter) is “a collection of statements that pursue a common purpose.” It is used in two ways in the Qur’an: (1) Sometimes sūrah represents the very verses that are revealed with a common theme, as seen in the current verse: which We have revealed and made obligatory. (2) Sometimes sūrah represents a “receptacle” that includes such verses as its “parts.” This meaning is also used in the current verse: in which We have revealed clear communications. Sūrah is a specific term that is established by the Qur’an to refer to specific sets of verses. This term is used repeatedly in God’s Book. Apparently, the word is derived from sūr al-balad, meaning the “walls of the city,” in the sense that Qur’anic chapters contain and envelope the verses in them [according to the second meaning]—or in the sense that they contain and envelope the common theme and purpose pursued by those verses [according to the first meaning]. Al-Rāghib says:
Farḍ is “to cut a solid object and penetrate it,” such as cutting iron, flint or a bow…
Farḍ is synonymous with ījāb (to make obligatory, to prescribe), except that farḍ specifically refers to the aspect of decisively cutting [a verdict or law], while ījāb concerns the aspect of its establishment and enactment. He says: “(This is) a chapter which We have revealed and made obligatory” (), which means: “We have made it obligatory on you to act according to it.”…
When farḍ is followed by the particle ʿalā (on, upon, over), it refers to what God has made incumbent upon a person to do. When farḍ is followed by the letter lām (lit. “for,” as in lahu: “for him”), it signifies God’s removal of prohibition, meaning that one should not constrain oneself from doing it, as in the verse: There is no harm in the Prophet doing that which Allah has ordained for him (faraḍa Allāhu lahu) ().
(This is) a chapter which We have revealed and made obligatory: Based on the above discussion, this sentence means: “This is a chapter that We have revealed and have made its laws obligatory acts that should be followed in practice.” This includes two types of laws: commanding laws and prohibitive laws. In the first type, practicing the law means acting according to its command. In the second type, practicing means refraining from the prohibition.
…and in which We have revealed clear communications so that you may be mindful: Given the context, this part of the verse refers to the Verse of the Light and its subsequent verses, because that is where the chapter provides clear explanations and communications about the reality of belief, disbelief, monotheism and polytheism. This sentence refers to verses that remind the readers of such divine teachings.
الزَّانِيَةُ وَالزَّانِي فَاجْلِدُوا كُلَّ وَاحِدٍ مِنْهُمَا مِائَةَ جَلْدَةٍ ۖ وَلَا تَأْخُذْكُمْ بِهِمَا رَأْفَةٌ فِي دِينِ اللَّهِ إِنْ كُنْتُمْ تُؤْمِنُونَ بِاللَّهِ وَالْيَوْمِ الْآخِرِ ۖ وَلْيَشْهَدْ عَذَابَهُمَا طَائِفَةٌ مِنَ الْمُؤْمِنِينَ ٢
(24:2) (As for) the adulteress and the adulterer, flog each of them (fa-ijlidūhum, from jald), (giving) a hundred stripes, and let not pity (raʾfah) for them detain you in the matter of Allah’s religion, if you believe in Allah and the Last Day, and let a group (ṭāʾifah) of believers witness their chastisement.
Zinā (adultery, fornication) means “unlawful sexual intercourse.” What makes intercourse lawful is one of the following: (1) marriage; (2) what resembles marriage; and (3) ownership of a female slave (milk al-yamīn).
Jald means “to lash with a whip,” and raʾfah means “kindness, pity, sympathy.” Some have defined raʾfah as “having compassion to someone in pain.” Ṭāʾifah originally means “a community of nomads that go back and forth (yaṭūfūna) from one place to another.” It has been said that tāʾifah may refer to two people or even one.
(As for) the adulteress and the adulterer…: The woman and man who have committed adultery should be whipped one hundred lashes each. This is the legal penalty (ḥadd) for adultery according to the explicit text of the verse. However, there are two exceptions to this:
If either or both of them are married, then the penalty for a married adulterer or adulteress is to be stoned [to death] (rajm).
If either or both of them are slaves, then the penalty for a slave adulterer or adulteress is half [that is, 50 lashes].
According to some exegetes, the verse mentions the female first because the act of adultery by her is more reprehensible, and because sexual desire is greater and stronger in females than males [on average]. The verse addresses all Muslims, and the command is to be implemented by whoever governs their community, such as the Prophet, an Imam, or a representative of an Imam.
… and let not pity for them detain you in the matter of Allah’s religion (dīn)…: What is meant here is to prohibit a reduction of penalty. However, the verse prohibits “pity” which is the cause of such reduction. This is an example of mentioning a cause while intending its effect. Pity for one who deserves a certain punishment will result in being lenient with the person’s deserved penalty through reduction, or perhaps total dismissal, of the punishment. That is why God adds the condition: “in the matter of Allah’s religion,” which means that such lenience is prohibited when it pertains to God’s religion and shariah (divine law).
Some exegetes have interpreted the word dīn as “God’s law,” as seen in the verse: “It was not [lawful] that he [Joseph] should take his brother under the king’s law (dīn)” (), where the king’s dīn means his law. The meaning would be: Do not show them pity in executing God’s law and implementing His penalty.
… if you believe in Allah and the Last Day…: This phrase emphasizes the prohibition against showing leniency concerning their penalty, by making it a condition of belief in God and the hereafter.
… and let a group of believers witness their chastisement: A group of believers must attend and observe the scene of their punishment so that it may be a lesson for them. This way, they do not go near such indecency.
الزَّانِي لَا يَنْكِحُ إِلَّا زَانِيَةً أَوْ مُشْرِكَةً وَالزَّانِيَةُ لَا يَنْكِحُهَا إِلَّا زَانٍ أَوْ مُشْرِكٌ ۚ وَحُرِّمَ ذَٰلِكَ عَلَى الْمُؤْمِنِينَ ٣
(24:3) The adulterer shall not marry any but an adulteress or idolatress, and (as for) the adulteress, none shall marry her but an adulterer or an idolater; and it is forbidden to the believers.
What is apparently understood from this verse, especially given its subsequent part, is that it states a legal prohibition. Even though the first part of the verse is in the form of an indicative or declarative statement (ikhbār), what is meant by it is a prohibition [that is, an imperative, inshāʾ]. Such usage is common and it shows emphasis of the prohibition.
The rule—based on narrations from the Imams of Ahl al-Bayt—is that an adulterer can only marry an adulteress or a polytheist, and an adulteress can only marry an adulterer or a polytheist under the following conditions: (1) the person’s adultery becomes publicly known; (2) the person is meted out the legal penalty for it; and (3) it is not known that the person has repented from it.
Therefore, this is a decisive verse (muḥkam) that has not been nullified and does not need to be interpreted through another verse. The two conditions of being meted out the legal penalty and not having repented can be inferred from the order and context of the verses. The law about their marriage in this verse appears after the law about their legal penalty [in the last verse]. It can be inferred from this order that the law in this verse is about adulterers and adulteresses who have received the legal penalty. Similarly, the Qur’an’s language and courtesy of speech is not compatible with classifying the repenters as “adulterers” or “adulteresses.”
The exegetes have had long debates and a range of different views about the meaning of the verse.
Some have said: What is meant in this verse is to describe the expected behavior of those who commit such indecency. One who has corrupted his pure innate nature (fiṭrah) would only incline to someone like himself in terms of evil and corruption. That is why an adulterer inclines toward an adulteress who has committed a similar act as himself, or toward a polytheist who is even more defiled. Similarly, an adulteress inclines toward an adulterer who has committed a similar act as herself, or toward a polytheist who is even more defiled. This is a general rule that pertains to the majority of people. The same has been said about what God says further below in the same chapter: Vile women are for vile men, and vile men are for vile women ().
Some have said: What is meant is to rebuke them, in the sense that an adulterer is only worth marrying an adulteress or someone lower, who would be a polytheist; and an adulteress is only worth marrying an adulterer or someone lower, who would be a polytheist. What is meant by the word nikāḥ is “marriage” [that is, a lawful contract as opposed to an informal relationship]. Then, the last part of the verse—“it is forbidden to the believers”—refers to the beginning of the verse, meaning that adultery is forbidden to the believers.
The problem with both of these views is that they do not match the context and theme of the verses in the chapter. Furthermore, the views disconnect the verse from its last part, as we noted above.
Some have said: This verse has been abrogated by the verse: And marry those among you who are single and those who are fit among your male slaves and your female slaves ().
The problem with this view is that the relationship between these two verses is that of a particular rule to a universal one. Stating a universal rule after a particular one does not abrogate it, unlike what some have claimed. Perhaps one could claim that this verse () has been abrogated by the following: And do not marry the idolatresses until they believe, and certainly a believing maid is better than an idolatress woman, even though she should please you; and do not give [believing women] in marriage to idolaters until they believe, and certainly a believing servant is better than an idolater, even though he should please you; these invite to the fire, and Allah invites to the garden and to forgiveness by His will (). Although the relationship would again be that of particular to universal, it could be claimed that the tone of the universal law [in ] does not allow for any exception. Hence, it would abrogate the permissibility of marriage between a believer and a polytheist.
Some exegetes have claimed: It was permissible for a Muslim woman to be married to a non-Muslim until year 6 AH (After Hijrah), at which point the law of prohibition was revealed [that is, verse ]. It is possible that the current verse of discussion [] was revealed before that time, while the verse of prohibition was revealed after [and thus abrogating the current verse].
There are also other views about the verse which we shall skip as their implausibility is obvious.
وَالَّذِينَ يَرْمُونَ الْمُحْصَنَاتِ ثُمَّ لَمْ يَأْتُوا بِأَرْبَعَةِ شُهَدَاءَ فَاجْلِدُوهُمْ ثَمَانِينَ جَلْدَةً وَلَا تَقْبَلُوا لَهُمْ شَهَادَةً أَبَدًا ۚ وَأُولَٰئِكَ هُمُ الْفَاسِقُونَ ٤
(24:4) And those who accuse (yarmūna, from ramy) chaste women and then do not bring four witnesses, flog them, (giving) eighty stripes, and do not admit any testimony from them ever; and those are the transgressors.
The meaning of ramy is well-known (to throw, to cast). It is used metaphorically for alleging a reprehensible act to a person, such as adultery or theft. Thus, it is equivalent to qaḍf (accusation). The context shows that the verse is about charging chaste women (muḥṣanāt) with adultery. “Bringing four witnesses” refers to presenting four individuals who have witnessed the adultery in order to prove the charge. If this is not established, then God’s verdict is that the accusers should be whipped eighty lashes, they are called transgressors (sing. fāsiq), and their testimonies (shahādah) shall not ever be accepted [in the Muslim court].
The meaning is: Concerning those who accuse chaste women of adultery, if they do not bring four witnesses to confirm their accusation, then you should scourge them with eighty stripes and should never accept their testimony in any case again because they are transgressors.
As the reader can see, the verse is unconditional, which would include all accusers, both male and female, both free and slave. This is how the narrations from the Imams of Ahl al-Bayt interpret the verse.
إِلَّا الَّذِينَ تَابُوا مِنْ بَعْدِ ذَٰلِكَ وَأَصْلَحُوا فَإِنَّ اللَّهَ غَفُورٌ رَحِيمٌ ٥
(24:5) Except those who repent after that and make amends, for surely Allah is Forgiving, Merciful.
This exception pertains to the last sentence in the previous verse: and those are the transgressors (). However, that sentence was itself a proof and basis for the rule that was mentioned before it: “and do not admit any testimony from them ever” (), as per the theme and context of the verse. Hence, lifting the rule about their transgression implies lifting the rule about not ever accepting their testimony. Therefore, by implication, the exception in this verse would include both sentences at the end of the previous verse.
The meaning is: Except those who repent afterwards and correct their action, in which case God is surely Forgiving and Merciful. He forgives their sin and shows mercy to them. Thus He lifts His previous classification of them as transgressors, and also His previous rule that their testimony should never be accepted.
Some exegetes have said: The exception only applies to the last sentence in the previous verse. This means that if a false accuser repents after receiving the legal penalty, then his or her sin will be forgiven but his or her testimony should still never be accepted. This is contrary to the view that the exception includes both rulings.
The exegetes’ disagreement over this matter goes back to a fundamental issue [in principles of jurisprudence and logic]: When an exception is mentioned after a series of statements, does it apply to all of them or does it only apply to the last one? The truth is that, in and of itself, the exception is compatible with both cases; choosing one over the other depends on contextual and circumstantial evidence in the speech. What is understood from the context of these verses is that the exception applies to the last statement, but since that statement is a basis and justification for its previous statement, then its previous statement is, by extension, included in the exception as well.
وَالَّذِينَ يَرْمُونَ أَزْوَاجَهُمْ وَلَمْ يَكُنْ لَهُمْ شُهَدَاءُ إِلَّا أَنْفُسُهُمْ فَشَهَادَةُ أَحَدِهِمْ أَرْبَعُ شَهَادَاتٍ بِاللَّهِ ۙ إِنَّهُ لَمِنَ الصَّادِقِينَ ٦ وَالْخَامِسَةُ أَنَّ لَعْنَتَ اللَّهِ عَلَيْهِ إِنْ كَانَ مِنَ الْكَاذِبِينَ ٧
(24:6-7) And (as for) those who accuse their wives and have no witnesses except themselves, the testimony of one of these (should be taken) four times, bearing Allah to witness that he is most surely stating the truth. And the fifth (time) that the wrath of Allah be on him if he is one of the liars.
These verses are about those who have no other witnesses but themselves. There is no one else who witnessed the scene so that he may testify for them. Then “the testimony of one of these”—that is, the accuser—“(should be taken) four times, bearing Allah to witness”—that is, swearing by God—“that he is most surely stating the truth”: concerning his accusation.
The two verses mean: Those who accuse their wives, if they do not have four witnesses to testify to having witnessed the scene, then each of such accusers should carry out the testimony four times, one after another, by saying, “I bring God as witness to the truth of my accusation.” Then he should finish that by a fifth testimony saying: “May God’s curse be upon me if I am among the liars.”
It should be noted that not having witnesses in such a case is natural and only makes sense, because if the accuser were to go searching for four individuals to come and witness the scene, then by that time the two perpetrators [of adultery] would have dispersed.
وَيَدْرَأُ عَنْهَا الْعَذَابَ أَنْ تَشْهَدَ أَرْبَعَ شَهَادَاتٍ بِاللَّهِ ۙ إِنَّهُ لَمِنَ الْكَاذِبِينَ ٨ وَالْخَامِسَةَ أَنَّ غَضَبَ اللَّهِ عَلَيْهَا إِنْ كَانَ مِنَ الصَّادِقِينَ ٩
(24:8-9) And it shall avert (yadraʾu, from darʾ) the chastisement from her if she testify four times, bearing Allah to witness that he is most surely one of the liars; And the fifth (time) that the wrath of Allah be on her if he is stating the truth.
Darʾ is equivalent in meaning to dafʿ (to deflect, to avert, to repel). Chastisement (aḍāb) in verse refers to the legal penalty (ḥadd) of adultery. The meaning is: If the woman testifies five times in response to the testimonies of the man, then the legal penalty of adultery will be lifted from her. Her testimony would be to testify four times, saying: “I swear by God that he is one of the liars,” and then to complement it by a fifth testimony, saying: “May God’s curse be upon me if he is stating the truth.”’
This is called liʿān (mutual cursing, in Islamic law), by which the couple are automatically separated from one another.
وَلَوْلَا فَضْلُ اللَّهِ عَلَيْكُمْ وَرَحْمَتُهُ وَأَنَّ اللَّهَ تَوَّابٌ حَكِيمٌ ١٠
(24:10) And were it not for Allah’s grace upon you and His mercy—and that Allah is Oft-returning (to mercy), Wise!
This verse is a conditional statement where its main clause (called the apodosis) is omitted. The omitted part can be inferred from what is mentioned as the condition. The implied meaning is: “If it were not for God’s qualities and acts of grace, mercy, return to mercy, and wisdom, then you would have been afflicted by the opposites of these attributes and actions [of God].” More elaborately, based on what is stated in the verse, the meaning is—and God knows best: If it were not for what God has graced you with—including the blessing of religion, His return [of mercy] toward the sinners [who repent], and His legislation of legal codes to organize the affairs of your life—then: (1) you would have been afflicted with wretchedness; (2) sins and errors would have destroyed you; and (3) the order of your life would have been upset due to your lack of wisdom.
Examining Narrations
- Imam al-Bāqir said in a hadith: Sūrah al-Nūr was revealed after Sūrah al-Nisāʾ. The proof for it is that God says in Sūrah al-Nisāʾ: And as for those who are guilty of an indecency from among your women, call to witness 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 (). God opened this “way” later, where He says: (This is) a chapter which We have revealed and made obligatory and in which We have revealed clear communications so that you may be mindful. (As for) the adulteress and the adulterer, flog each of them, (giving) a hundred stripes, and let not pity for them detain you in the matter of Allah’s religion, if you believe in Allah and the Last Day, and let a group of believers witness their chastisement ().
- Concerning “their chastisement” () Imam al-Bāqir said: “[It means] their whipping.” Concerning “and let a group of believers witness” () he said: “The people should gather and attend when they are scourged.”
- Imam ʿAlī said concerning “and let not pity for them detain you in the matter of Allah’s religion” (): “That is in carrying out the penalties (hudūd).” Concerning “and let a group (ṭāʾifah) of believers witness their chastisement” (), he said: “One person is [also] called a ṭāʾifah.”
- Imam al-Bāqir said in a hadith: It was revealed in Medina: The adulterer shall not marry any but an adulteress or idolatress, and [as for] the adulteress, none shall marry her but an adulterer or an idolater; and it is forbidden to the believers (). Thus God does not call an adulterer or an adulteress a believer. Similarly there is a tradition by the Messenger of God which is unanimously agreed upon by the scholars, where he says: “An adulterer does not fornicate while he is a believer, and a thief does not rob while he is a believer, for when they commit such acts, belief (īmān) will be taken off from them as a shirt is taken off [from the body].”
- Zurārah says: I asked Imam al-Ṣādiq about God’s words: The adulterer shall not marry any but an adulteress or idolatress (). He said, “This is about women and men who are known for adultery. They are widely known and famous for it. Thus is the rule for the people today: If one receives the legal penalty of adultery, or is accused by it [waiting to receive the penalty], then no one [among the believers] can marry them unless their repentance is established and known.”
Author’s comment: Al-Kāfī has also reported another similar hadith from the Imam, via its chain of narration, on the authority of Abū al-Ṣabāḥ. Another similar narration is:
- Imam al-Bāqir said: It is about men and women at the time of the Messenger of God who were famous for adultery. God’s prohibition pertains to such men and women. The same applies to the people at this time: Whoever is known for something like that [that is, an indecency] or receives the legal penalty [for it], then you should not marry them unless you learn about their repentance.
- Imam al-Ṣādiq said: This [verse or ruling] is only about cases [of adultery] that are done openly [that is, cases where others learn about it]… But if someone fornicates [in private] and then repents from it, he can marry as he wants.
- ʿAbd-Allāh b. ʿUmar said: There was a woman named Umm-i Mahzūl who used to sleep with men on the condition of paying her expenses. Then one of the Prophet’s Companions decided to marry her. At that point God revealed: (as for) the adulteress, none shall marry her but an adulterer or an idolater ().
Author’s comment: Similar accounts to this have been reported from Mujāhid in several collections of hadith.
- Muqātil said: When the Meccan Immigrants (Muhājirīn) came to Medina, they arrived while they were in difficult financial conditions except for a few of them. Moreover, Medina was afflicted with extreme scarcity and high prices. Meanwhile, there were open and official prostitutes among the People of the Book in the market there. There were also prostitutes among the slave girls of the Medinite Supporters (Anṣār), including Umayyah who was a bondmaid of ʿAbd-Allāh b. Ubayy, and Nasīkah b. Umayyah who belonged to a man of Anṣār. Each of these women had raised a banner on her door, indicating that she was a prostitute. They were among the best-off people in Medina and used to help others the most.
Due to financial constraints, some Muslim Immigrants [from Mecca] were inclined to some of their income. They started consulting one another: “Why do we not marry some of these prostitutes? This way we can have a share of their food.” Some of them said, “Let us seek advice from the Messenger of God.” Thus they went to him and said, “O Messenger of God! Poverty is pressing us and we do not have anything to eat. Yet there are some female prostitutes among the People of the Book, their slaves, and as the slaves of Anṣār, who are earning a living for themselves in the market. Is it OK for us to marry these women and benefit from their excess income? Then once we become needless of them we will abandon them.” Thus God revealed: (as for) the adulteress, none shall marry her but an adulterer or an idolater… (). Therefore He prohibited the believers against marrying prostitutes who commit adultery openly.
Author’s comment: The last two narrations explain the context of revelation for only the first part of the verse—“(as for) the adulteress, none shall marry her but an adulterer or an idolater”—but not for the second part: The adulterer shall not marry any but an adulteress or idolatress ().
- Concerning “Except those who repent” () Majmaʿ al-bayān says (summarized): There are two different views about what this exception refers to: (1) It only refers to their transgression, but not to “do not admit any testimony from them ever” (). (2) It refers to both points, meaning that if the person repents, then his testimony should be accepted, whether he has received the legal penalty or not. This view is narrated from Ibn ʿAbbās, as well as Imams al-Bāqir and al-Ṣādiq.
- Saʿīd b. al-Musayyab said: Three individuals testified to Mughīrah b. Shuʿbah’s adultery while Ziyād refrained to do so [as the fourth witness]. Therefore ʿUmar whipped the three individuals [eighty lashes]. He told them, “Repent so that your testimonies may be accepted [from now on].” Two of them repented, but Abū Bakrah did not, and thus his testimony was not accepted thereafter. Abū Bakrah and Ziyād were half-brothers, born of the same mother. When Ziyād did what he did later on [that is, identifying himself to be Muʿāwiyah’s brother, meaning that his mother had slept with Abū Sufyān unlawfully], Abū Bakrah took an oath not to ever speak to him again. Thus he did not talk to him until he died.
- Imam al-Ṣādiq said: “If a slave man falsely accuses a free woman, he should be given eighty lashes.” The Imam then added, “This is among the rights of all human beings [that is, irrespective of being free or slave; without any discount in case of slaves].”
- Concerning verses (And (as for) those who accuse their wives… if he is stating the truth) Tafsīr al-Qummī says: These verses were revealed concerning liʿān (mutual cursing). The cause of its revelation was the following story: When the Messenger of God returned from the Battle of Tabūk, ʿUwaymir b. Sāʿidah al-ʿAjlānī—who was one of the Anṣār (Medinite Supporters)—came to him and said, “O Messenger of God! Sharīk b. al-Samḥāʾ has fornicated with my wife and now she is pregnant from him.” The Messenger of God turned away from him. He repeated what he had said, and the Prophet turned away again, until he said it four times.
Then the Messenger of God entered his house, and that is when the verses of liʿān [] were revealed. When the Messenger of God came out and prayed the Afternoon Prayer with the people, he said to ʿUwaymir: “Bring your wife here, for God has revealed something about you in the Qur’an.” ʿUwaymir went to her and said, “The Messenger of God has summoned you.” Since she was an honorable woman among her tribe, she came along with a community [from her tribe]. When she entered the mosque, the Messenger of God said to ʿUwaymir, “Advance to the pulpit and curse yourselves.” ʿUwaymir said, “How should I do this?” The Prophet said, “Go there and say: I bring God to witness that I am truthful in my accusation of her.” Thus ʿUwaymir went up and said it. The Messenger of God said, “Repeat it.” He repeated, and this happened up to four times. The fifth time the Prophet told him [to say], “God’s curse be upon you if you are lying in your accusation of her.” Thus ʿUwaymir said “the fifth (time) that the wrath of Allah be on him if he is one of the liars” in his accusation of her []. Then the Messenger of God told him: “This curse shall befall you if you have been a liar.”
Then the Prophet told ʿUwaymir, “Stand aside,” so he went back. Then the Prophet told the wife, “You should testify as he did; otherwise I will apply God’s penalty to you.” She looked at the faces of her community members and said, “No, I shall not disgrace these faces in this afternoon.” So she advanced to the pulpit and said, “I bring God to witness that ʿUwaymir b. Sāʿidah is a liar in his accusation of me.” The Messenger of God told her, “Repeat it,” and thus she did up to four times. The Messenger of God told her, “Curse yourself in the fifth one in case he is truthful in his accusation of you.” So she said in “the fifth (time) that the wrath of Allah be on her if he is stating the truth” in his accusation of her []. The Messenger of God told her, “Beware, for this curse shall befall you if you have lied.”
Then the Messenger of God told the husband, “You can go now, and this woman shall never be lawful to you anymore.” He said, “O Messenger of God! What about the money that I had given her?” He replied, “If you have lied [in your testimony], then that money shall be farther from you than her; and if you have been truthful, then it is hers in exchange for the lawfulness of the sexual pleasure that you have taken from her.”…
Once Saʿd b. ʿUbādah complained [in a gathering of the Prophet and his Companions]: “If I were to enter on an ignoble woman [of mine] and find a man sitting at her thighs, should I keep silent—so that he does not notice—until I bring four witnesses? By God I would never be able to bring four witnesses before he finishes his act and goes away. And if I express what I have said, then I will receive eighty lashes on my back!”
The Prophet said: “O community of Anṣār (Medinite Supporters)! Do you not hear what your head is saying?” They said, “Do not blame him, for this man is indeed protectively jealous (ghayūr). He has not married any woman unless she is a virgin, and whenever he divorced a woman, no man among us has dared marrying her.”
Saʿd b. ʿUbadah said, “O Messenger of God! May my parents be your ransom! By God I know that this law is from God and that it is the truth. Yet I was surprised by it because of what I told you.” The Prophet replied, “This is what God has said.” Saʿd said, “God and His Messenger have said the truth.”
It was not long after this conversation, when one night Hilāl b. Umayyah, who was a cousin of Saʿd [that is, a man of Anṣār], came home from his garden [outside Medina], only to see a man with his wife. The next day he went to the Messenger of God early in the morning and said, “Last night I went to my wife, but I found a man with her. I saw him with my eyes and heard him with my ears.” This upset the Messenger of God, to the point that his displeasure could be seen in his face. Hilāl said, “I see in your face that you are displeased, but by God I am truthful, and I earnestly hope that God would open up a resolution [for my case].” The Messenger of God decided to flog him [eighty lashes].
The Anṣār gathered around and said, “What Saʿd said has now befell us. Should Hilāl be scourged and his testimony be rejected?” At that point revelation began, and therefore they stopped talking since they realized the coming of revelation. God sent down these verses: And (as for) those who accuse their wives… (ff).
The Prophet said, “Rejoice, O Hilāl! For indeed God has opened up a resolution [for you].” Hilāl replied, “Surely I was hoping this from God.” The Prophet said, “Send for her.” When she came, the Prophet made them curse themselves. Once that was done, the Prophet announced their separation and ruled that the child shall belong to her without being attributed to a father, and without being called illegitimate.
Then the Messenger of God said: “If she gives birth to a child with such-and-such qualities then he shall belong to her husband [Hilāl], and if she gives birth to a child with such-and-such qualities then he shall belong to the man who is claimed to have slept with her.”
Author’s comment: This has also been narrated in al-Durr al-manthūr, from several collections of hadith, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās.
In the first case, “which We have revealed” shows that sūrah is that which is revealed. In the second case, “in which” shows the sūrah is not what is primarily revealed, but it is like a container which holds communications that are revealed and sent down into it. (Trans.) ↩︎
These exceptions are not drawn from the verse, but from Islamic jurisprudence. The second point is mentioned in verse . (Trans.) ↩︎
In other words, pronoun “it” in “it is forbidden” refers to “adultery,” not to “marrying an adulterer” (Trans.) ↩︎
In Sūrah al-Nisāʾ, under verse , the author states that there are three possible meanings for muḥṣanāt: (1) chaste women; (2) married women; and (3) free women. The context would show which of these meanings is most relevant. In the current verse the first meaning is most appropriate, although the other two are also possible. See volume 8, p. 94 of the English translation. (Trans.) ↩︎
Al-Kāfī, via its chain of narration, on the authority of Muḥammad b. Sālim. ↩︎
Tafsīr al-Qummī, on the authority of Abū al-Jārūd. ↩︎
Tahdhīb al-aḥkām, via its chain of narration, on the authority of Ghiyāth b. Ibrāhīm, from Imam Jaʿfar, from his father. ↩︎
Al-Kāfī, via its chain of narration, on the authority of Muḥammad b. Sālim. ↩︎
Al-Kāfī, via its chain of narration. ↩︎
Al-Kāfī, via its chain of narration, on the authority of Muḥammad b. Sālim. ↩︎
Al-Kāfī, via its chain of narration, on the authority of Ḥakam b. Ḥākīm. ↩︎
Al-Durr al-manthūr, on the authority of Aḥmad, ʿAbd b. Ḥamīd, al-Nasāʾī, al-Ḥākim (who has authenticated it), Ibn Jarīr, Ibn al-Mnudhir, Ibn Abī Ḥātim, Ibn Mardawayh, al-Bayhaqī’s al-Sunan, and Abū Dāwūd’s Nāsikh. ↩︎
Al-Durr al-manthūr, on the authority of Ibn Abī Ḥātim. ↩︎
Al-Durr al-manthūr, on the authority of ʿAbd al-Razzāq, ʿAbd b. Ḥamīd and Ibn al-Mundhir. ↩︎
Tahdhīb al-aḥkām, via its chain of narration, on the authority of al-Ḥalabī. ↩︎
Majmaʿ al-bayān. ↩︎
Arabs were (and are) identified by the name of their fathers. “Son of so-and-so” was equivalent to a person’s last name nowadays. The last statement of the Prophet sets the child’s looks and appearance as a criterion for determining his identity. In other versions of this story it says that the child was not attributed to any father. This could strengthen a suggested view by the Persian translator of al-Mīzān: that the Prophet said the above as a rhetorical question, implying that we shall not ascribe a child to a man based on the child’s face and appearance—which was common among the Arabs before Islam. Physiognomy (qiyāfah) is forbidden in Islamic law. (Trans.) ↩︎