The benefits of the verse: “And the two who practice it among you, then harm them. But if they repent and make amends, then turn away from them. Indeed, Allah is Accepting of repentance, Merciful.”

Then Allah (Mighty and Majestic) said: . It is derived from this noble verse that sodomy has two rulings: the first ruling is what the verse indicates, and the second ruling is what the Sunnah indicates. As for what the verse indicates, it is that the man who commits this indecency is to be harmed by words, harmed by actions, harmed by boycotting him, and harmed by various types of harm. For many people, this harm may be more severe than beating him or imprisoning him. As for the second ruling, which is indicated by the Sunnah, it is the execution of both the active and passive parties, based on the saying of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him): . Here, the general statement is not restricted by the specific one to say: “Execute the active and passive parties if they are married,” as is the case with unlawful sexual intercourse. This is because one of the conditions for restricting a general statement by a specific one is that the ruling and the cause must be the same. Here, the cause and the ruling differ. Here, the cause is like unlawful sexual intercourse, which occurs in a private part that is generally lawful. Is that correct? When is it lawful? Through a valid marriage contract or through ownership of a right hand (slavery). This, however, is the taking of a private part that is never lawful. Also, this indecency is difficult to guard against, unlike unlawful sexual intercourse, because it occurs between males, and it is not possible to imprison males from one another. Guarding against it is difficult. If it does not have a strong punishment, it will spread in society. And if it spreads in society, the men and women will become corrupt. This is because one of the punishments for the sodomite is that he loses his desire for women. If he does not desire women, the women remain idle, and evil and corruption occur. The evidence for this is that one of the punishments for the sodomite is that his desire for women is removed from him. This is based on the saying of Lut to his people: . They did not leave the women alone except because their desire for women was hardened in their souls. Otherwise, by his innate disposition, a person is inclined toward women. If this punishment spreads in society, it corrupts the men and women of the society and causes their interests to be neglected. Therefore, wisdom dictates the eradication of this corrupt germ by execution. It is not appropriate to restrict this general statement by the specific one, as you have learned from the difference in cause and ruling. The Shaykh al-Islam (may Allah have mercy on him) mentioned that the Companions agreed on executing the active and passive parties, but they differed on the method of execution. Some said they should be thrown from a high place in the city and then stoned. Some said they should be stoned. Some said the sodomite, both the active and passive parties, should be burned, because their crime is great and abominable. Lut called it “the great sin,” while unlawful sexual intercourse in the Book of Allah is , and the former is more severe. Among its benefits is that if one repents and makes amends, it is obligatory to refrain from punishing him. Allah explicitly stated in the verse regarding the combatants in Surat al-Ma'idah that this is conditional on repenting before they are captured. Allah the Exalted said: . As for if he repents after being captured, the punishment is not forgiven for him. However, what appears from the Sunnah is that if a matter is established by confession and then the person repents, he is left to repent, and Allah will accept his repentance. The evidence for this is the hadith of Ma'iz ibn Malik (may Allah be pleased with him), when he came to the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) and confessed to him regarding unlawful sexual intercourse. The Prophet ordered him to be stoned. When the stones were thrown at him—meaning when the stones hit him—he fled. But the Companions, because the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) had ordered them to stone him, said, “We must carry out the order of the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him).” So they carried out the stoning, and then they informed the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) of this. He said: . This indicates that if the one who confessed repents, even during the execution of the punishment, he is left to repent, and Allah will accept his repentance.
Among its benefits is that repentance from a sin must be accompanied by making amends, based on His saying: . But how is repentance like this? It was said: Repentance like this is when one is tempted and refuses. For example, it is said to the passive party, “We want to do this to you,” and if he refuses, that indicates his repentance. And it is said to the active party, “You want to do this to him,” and if he refuses, that is his repentance. The same is said regarding the woman who commits unlawful sexual intercourse. But this opinion is a denounced opinion that is far from the truth. This is because temptation only occurs in secret, is that not so? One does not tempt a person in front of people; it will be in secret. Also, if the one tempting is capable of the act—meaning it is expected that he will do it because he may comply—then the indecency will occur. And if the one tempting is not capable of the act, the one being tempted will realize that this person wants to test him and will refuse. By this, we know that this opinion has no basis in truth. But repentance, like other sins, repentance from this is like other sins. If we know that the man has been isolated from this thing and no longer goes to gatherings where this indecency occurs, or the like of that, we know that he has repented. For this reason, repentance is coupled here with making amends, so there must be something indicating that he has repented, which is the reform of his actions and staying away from this indecency. Among its benefits is the establishment that the ruling revolves with its cause in existence and absence. What is its aspect? He said: . So when the cause disappears, the ruling disappears, and it is so. The ruling revolves with its cause in existence and absence. But if the cause is explicitly stated in the text, then if it is absent, the ruling must be absent. And if it is derived, then it is not appropriate for the ruling to be absent due to its absence, because it is possible that the cause is not a legal cause in this derived cause, and we would nullify a ruling of Allah that is established merely on the basis of probability. But if it is explicitly stated, then the ruling revolves with it, like the saying of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him): . This indicates that if one does not become sad by this whispering, it is permissible, it is permissible. Among its benefits is the establishment of two of the names of Allah, which are: al-Tawwab (the Accepting of repentance) and al-Rahim (the Merciful). We have previously discussed the meaning of al-Tawwab and why it was used in the form of exaggeration, and the meaning of al-Rahim.