The Benefits of the Verse: ((And those who commit immorality among your women, then take four [witnesses] from among you...))

I seek refuge in Allah, the All-Hearing, the All-Knowing, from Satan, the accursed. Allah, Blessed and Exalted is He, said: . Among the benefits of this noble verse are the gravity of unlawful sexual intercourse and that it is among the heinous sins, because it is agreed that this refers to unlawful sexual intercourse, and the claim that it refers to lesbianism is a weak opinion that is not relied upon. Among its benefits is that four righteous men must testify to prove unlawful sexual intercourse, based on His saying: and His saying: . The address is to the believers, and all the Companions were righteous, or we say that the address is to all the Companions, and this generalization is understood as referring to righteousness, as Allah the Exalted said: . Among its benefits is the indication that a man is stronger in testimony than a woman and more steadfast, because Allah the Exalted did not consider in unlawful sexual intercourse anything but the testimony of men. Among its benefits is that the fixed punishment is averted by doubt, because the condition of four men is for establishing the testimony, and the testimony of four women contains doubt because they were not established as [testimony], as Allah the Exalted said: . There is no doubt that fixed punishments are averted by doubts, but the basis of the ruling remains with us, meaning what is the doubt by which the fixed punishment is averted? Some scholars expanded on this, saying that if a man hires a woman for unlawful sexual intercourse and then commits it with her, there is no fixed punishment on him, because his hiring her is a doubt, just as if he hired a house to live in. Some scholars took a middle position, and some were strict. The general rule is that when opinions differ into three, the middle one is the correct one; this is the general rule. Among its benefits is that the witnesses must explicitly state their testimony in the case of unlawful sexual intercourse, based on His saying: . For this reason, the witnesses must say: "We saw his penis in her vagina, he inserted it into it, just as the ... is inserted into the ...". It is not sufficient for the witnesses to say: "We saw a man on a woman, and they were naked, and we saw his penis between her thighs." This is not sufficient; there must be an explicit statement of intercourse, as the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) said to Ma'iz: . For this reason, the Shaykh al-Islam (may Allah have mercy on him) said in his time "that the fixed punishment for unlawful sexual intercourse has not been established by testimony to this day". It has not been established by testimony, why? Because it is difficult. If someone asks: Can we establish it by photographing it? We used to say yes, but when we realized the editing by photographers, we said we do not establish it. Do you know what editing means? It means they take a picture and place a man on a woman who has not had intercourse with him, but it is not the case. The problem of this editing, we ask Allah to protect us from its evil. They have started editing speech now, as I was told. They take, for example, a letter from my speech, a letter in one word and a letter from another word, and they combine them and publish a sermon with my voice saying what they want. Do you understand? They collect the letters and then form them into words as they wish, and the voice is my voice, and I am innocent of the speech. So it is a real problem. Any person who wants to fabricate against someone now can do so. But we hope that Allah does not answer with viruses for these machines, as they now threaten with computer viruses, so that we are safe from its evil and people are safe from its evil. Among its benefits is that confining a woman in her house is one of the causes of averting fitnah, based on His saying: . Because this is a type of punishment from one angle and a restraint of the causes of fitnah from another angle. Among its benefits is the indication that the house is better for the woman, based on His saying: . And as the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: . Among its benefits is that it is not permissible to confine a woman in her house such that she is prevented from going out, except if there is fitnah and evil. Otherwise, the original ruling is that she is not prevented from going out of the house. This is supported by the fact that Allah the Exalted obligated the woman whose husband has died to remain in her house, which indicates that others are not obligated to remain in the house, and that is the case. So the house, we should encourage women to remain in it, but we do not oblige them to do so. Among its benefits is the permissibility of punishment by life imprisonment. Do you agree with this? Or is life imprisonment originally a type of punishment? The second is closer: that punishment by life imprisonment has a basis in the Shari'ah. As for making it prescribed when it has been abrogated, there is something in it. Among its benefits is establishing the creation for Allah, Mighty and Majestic, based on His saying: . Creation is of two types: legislative creation and cosmic, destined creation. An example of legislative creation is His saying: and His saying: , which is legislative creation. As for destined creation, He has created it; the dedicated camel, the dedicated camel, the dedicated camel, and the dedicated camel exist. And examples of cosmic creation are many in the Qur'an, such as: and the examples are many. Among its benefits is establishing the voluntary actions for Allah, Mighty and Majestic, meaning establishing the attribute of new action for Allah. Know that the action attributed to Allah is of two types: genus and species. Genus, species, and individual, three types: genus, species, and individual. As for the genus, it is an eternal, primordial attribute, meaning that Allah has always been and will always be an Actor. He is an Actor in eternity as He is an Actor in perpetuity. For this reason, the stronger opinion among the scholars' opinions is the opinion of the succession of events in the past as they are in the future. But we do not know what succeeded in the past except what was informed to us. Otherwise, we believe that Allah has always been and will always be an Actor, Glorified and Exalted is He. The second is the species. The species is like rising above the Throne, and this is a new event, because Allah did not rise above the Throne before the creation of the Throne. As for the individuals, there are many, such as the descent to the lowest heaven every night, and the coming to judge between the servants, and the descent to the lowest heaven on the evening of 'Arafah, and anger when its cause exists, and satisfaction when its cause exists, and laughter when its cause exists, and wonder when its cause exists. Many things. The people of the Sunnah and the community have established this, and the Asha'irah and the Mu'tazilah and those who follow their path have denied this, saying that Allah cannot be described with a new attribute ever. For this reason, they consider the Qur'an that is in our hands to be ancient. They explained this defective ruling by saying that the occurrence of events in Allah, Mighty and Majestic, necessitates that He be a new event, because events do not occur except in a new event. There is no doubt that this is a sick cause, rather a dead one. Who told them this? Rather, the occurrence of events in Allah, Mighty and Majestic, and that He does what He wills, is a proof of His perfection and the perfection of His life. If a person imagines a Lord who does not act and a Lord who acts, the innate disposition dictates that the second is more perfect without a doubt. So the correct opinion without a doubt is that the actions of Allah, Glorified and Exalted, are as they are a genus, so they are a species and they are individual, singular.