Introduction
The blog discusses controversial topics in Islamic law, including the punishment of fornicators, apostasy, and the death sentence for adulterers. It examines different interpretations and perspectives on these issues, considering factors such as historical context, legal evidence, and the potential consequences of these punishments. The article also highlights the importance of critical analysis and open dialogue in understanding complex religious texts and their implications for modern society.
Can Muslims Abolish the Punishment of Flogging the Fornicators?
First, Allah SWT says: The woman and the man guilty of illegal sexual intercourse flog each of them with a hundred lashes. Let not pity withhold you in their case, in a punishment prescribed by Allah; and let a party of the believers witness their punishment.” (Holy Quran 24:2)
Therefore, if an Islamic government implements this law, it only does its duty. Secondly, no government can afford not to enforce the rules chosen by the majority. Suppose we study the free sexual relationship and their outcome. In that case, we find it one of the major contributors to many social problems such as runaways, abandoned babies, joining gangs, weak family relations, insecure relationships, and committing crimes such as abortion.
No wonder, Islam regulates the sexual relationship in a way that permits a male or a female to satisfy the instinct of sex, but also to shoulder responsibility for its outcome. So, the community’s needs are kept in balance and the individual’s rights are preserved, especially the rights of innocent infants and children.
It is their right to find someone who takes care of them without putting the whole burden on the mother. It is not fair that both the male and female enjoy the sexual relationship, and the male gets away with it easily. Those laws or resolutions calling for free sexual relations are only legalizing men exploiting females in the worst form of exploitation.
Even in cases of using contraceptives, we are depriving females of satisfying the motherhood instinct. Besides, the problem appears in another form, that is, depriving the community or the nation of an essential sector of the population, the youth. The number of the aged will eventually increase while the number of the younger generation decreases. This will, certainly, have negative social, economic, and defense impacts on the nation. In addition to that, the illegal relationship may lead to the crime of revenge because of natural jealousy.
For all these evils of free sexual relationship, Islam, which is concerned about the rights of the female and the helpless children, assigns a severe punishment that may secure a healthy, productive relationship between the two sexes.
It is true, that the punishment is severe, but Islam requires proofs, which could be considered next to impossible, to leave room for the two to repent. For example, to prove a person guilty of adultery, there have to be four witnesses who can describe the sex act in detail.
Not only that but to protect especially the females’ reputation, Islam assigned a severe punishment for false accusations. Allah SWT says: “And those who accuse chaste women and do not produce four witnesses, flog them with eighty lashes and reject their testimony forever.” (Holy Quran 24:4)
Where is the Truth about the Death Sentence for Adulterers?
The death sentence for an adulterer who has experienced marriage life is subject to a hot discussion. Some scholars support the opinion that this punishment is still valid. Their evidence is that the Prophet executed this rule in the case of Ma’ez al-Aslami (Sunan Ibn Maajah), the Ghamidi woman (Musnad Imam Ahmad), the Juhani Woman (Musnad Imam Ahmad) and Shuhurah (Musnad Imam Ahmad).
Also, the Prophet (PBUH) said: “The adulterer (who had experienced marriage) deserves one hundred lashes and a death sentence by stoning.” Umar the second Caliph said that the verse which imposed this rule has been removed from the Holy Quran but not the ruling. (Al-Bukhari)
Others said that this ruling of punishment is only to scare off a person from committing adultery because adultery was so widely spread at the advent of Islam. So, there was a need to stop it by announcing a very severe punishment, but originally, it was not to be executed. This group summarizes its arguments in the following points:
Firstly, Islam made it very difficult, next to impossible, to prove adultery by requiring four witnesses to see the actual intercourse taking place in a way that is impossible under normal circumstances. Not only that, but it also threatened anyone who slandered a chaste man or woman by accusing him/her of adultery to be lashed with eighty lashes. It also gave the accused wife a chance to clear herself of this guilt only by giving four testimonies swearing by Allah that the accusation is false and a fifth oath that the wrath of Allah be upon her if the accusing husband was truthful.
All cases during the time of the Prophet (PBUH) were executed based on a willful confession, and the Prophet (PBUH) desperately tried to avoid the need for applying the ruling. To take the example of Ma’ez, the Prophet (PBUH) turned away from him four times on different days, he asked the man’s folks about his mental situation and tried through embarrassing questions to dissuade him. Finally, when the Prophet (PBUH) was told that Ma’ez ran away during the execution of the judgment of stoning and they followed him, he said: Why did you not leave him alone?
Concerning the Ghamidi woman, the Prophet (PBUH) kept delaying her punishment hoping she would not come back and refrain from confession. She kept insisting till he told her, last time, to come back after she completed breastfeeding her child, that is, two years of delay.
Thirdly, one person cannot commit adultery. Yet, in all cases, except one, the Prophet (PBUH) did not make any effort to find out who the other party was to be punished. The only case is when the husband took compensation from his wife’s partner and the case was presented before the Prophet.
Fourthly, the evidence of abrogating the ruling is stronger because there was another ruling for a wife who commits adultery that was not stricken out of the Holy Quran, but the ruling was abrogated. Therefore, if the verse was removed from the Holy Quran, as claimed by some, the ruling must have been abrogated too.
The warning of very severe punishment is found in other cases such as cursing those who are involved in usury, a woman who uses tattoos or does it for others. Here, cursing does not mean praying for the person to be deprived of the mercy of Allah but is used as an intensified warning.
This kind of regulation is familiar even in man-made law. For example, some states in the USA assign a fine of five hundred dollars for lettering on highways. In general, when we look carefully at these forms of punishment, we notice that they concentrate on the public’s rights. Whoever practices sex in a way that four people can describe up to the detail is not violating the relative’s honor but offends and challenges public morals as well.
Does a Person Deserve a Death Sentence for Apostasy?
As we mentioned earlier, there is no compulsion in religion, but when a person chooses Islam willingly, he is signing a lifelong bond with Allah. Therefore, some Muslim scholars justify the Prophet’s saying: “Whoever changes his religion kill him.” (Sahih Al-Bukhari). This is in a way like a person who agrees to become a citizen of a country, which implements capital punishment for certain crimes. The agreement is binding on all parties, and no party can break from it without the consent of the other party.
Furthermore, this ruling came when there were no sufficient records for the citizens and the only way to distinguish between the different categories was religion (Islam experienced in Medina’s political entity the religious and race multiplicity fourteen centuries ago). It was easy for the Muslims’ enemies to change their religion back and forth to create confusion among Muslims and to lure them into disbelief.
So, there was a need to close this door, at least by declaring a severe punishment for those who did that. Religion was a major form of identity; it imposed duties and granted privileges, which could be misused. The Islamic state, like any other state, does not allow people to play with the law or to exploit the national identity.
“A section of the people of the Book says: ‘Belief in the morning what is revealed to the Believers but reject it at the end of the day: perchance, they may themselves turn back’”. (Holy Quran 3:72). It could also be added that Islam is the latest version of the Divine religion, and for a Muslim to turn back to Christianity, as an example, or Judaism is reverting, but the other way around is a kind of advancement.
However, Muslim scholars have differed on the nature of this ruling, whether it is for literary implementation on the nature of this ruling, whether it is for literary implementation or it is only a threat, especially because of two reasons. Firstly, there is no agreement about applying that to females.
Secondly, there is agreement about the necessity of the opportunity for repentance, but there is disagreement about its duration. Some scholars are convinced that it is a lifelong opportunity because Allah says: “And whoever of you reverts from his religion (to disbelief), for those, their deeds have become worthless in this world and the Hereafter.” The Prophet (PBUH) said: “Allah accepts the repentance of his servant up to his last breath.” (Musnad Imam Ahmad) In another Prophetic tradition, death punishment is tied up with taking a hostile position against Islam along with apostasy.
Conclusion
The blog discusses controversial topics in Islamic law, including the punishment of fornicators, apostasy, and the death sentence for adulterers. It examines different interpretations and perspectives on these issues, considering factors such as historical context, legal evidence, and the potential consequences of these punishments. The article also highlights the importance of critical analysis and open dialogue in understanding complex religious texts and their implications for modern society.
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