Exegesis of the saying of Allah the Exalted: << و يدرؤا عنها العذاب أن تشهد أربع شهادات بالله إنه لمن الكاذبين >>
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And His saying meaning it averts the punishment from her, namely the hadd of zina established by his testimony. We said: If a man accuses his wife of zina, it does not fall into less than three cases:
If he performs li'an and then provides proof, then the hadd is established against him by the proof. Or she may confess, in which case the hadd is carried out against her by her confession. Or she may deny it, and in the case of her denial, either he requests li'an, or if the man testifies four times by Allah, the hadd is carried out against her, but she has the right to avert this hadd with testimonies that negate the man's testimony. So the punishment in His saying refers to the hadd of zina. As for the statement of our jurists (may Allah have mercy on them) that the punishment refers to imprisonment, this is a very weak opinion, because there is no mention of imprisonment in the verse. Rather, the verse is explicit that what is averted is the punishment, and the punishment is the hadd of qadhf, as evidenced by His saying in the verse previously: [An-Nur 24:2] So the punishment referred to is the hadd of zina. As for the statement of the jurists (may Allah have mercy on them) that the punishment is imprisonment until she confesses or performs li'an, this is an opinion with no evidence for it and is very weak. The correct view is that the punishment referred to is the hadd of qadhf. So if the woman denies it, we tell the man: testify to what you said four times by Allah that you are among the truthful, and the fifth time that the curse of Allah is upon you if you are among the liars. If he testifies... the hadd of zina is carried out against her: stoning if she is muhsanah, and flogging with exile if she is not muhsanah.
The student: ...?
The Shaykh: All right, he may marry her but not have intercourse with her, yes, so she would not be muhsanah. All right, in any case, after the hadd is established against her by the husband's testimony, she has the right to drop the hadd. This is by testimonies that counter the husband's testimonies. For this reason, Allah the Mighty and Majestic says:[An-Nur 24:8] So what he accused her of regarding zina
The student: ...?
The Shaykh: But we do not say... If he performs li'an, it is accepted from him, and if he deviates, we do not carry out the hadd of zina against her. We imprison her until she confesses to zina or performs li'an with it. As for the custom, if she does not perform li'an, we carry out the hadd against her without doubt. All right, he says:[An-Nur 24:8] So what he accused her of regarding zina, due to His saying: [Yusuf 12:51] in what he accused her of regarding zina
and averts the punishment from her
ويدرأ عنها العذابIf he performs li'an and then provides proof, then the hadd is established against him by the proof. Or she may confess, in which case the hadd is carried out against her by her confession. Or she may deny it, and in the case of her denial, either he requests li'an, or if the man testifies four times by Allah, the hadd is carried out against her, but she has the right to avert this hadd with testimonies that negate the man's testimony. So the punishment in His saying
from her the punishment
عنها العذابAnd let a group of the believers witness their punishment.
وليشهد عذابهما طائفة من المؤمنينThe student: ...?
The Shaykh: All right, he may marry her but not have intercourse with her, yes, so she would not be muhsanah. All right, in any case, after the hadd is established against her by the husband's testimony, she has the right to drop the hadd. This is by testimonies that counter the husband's testimonies. For this reason, Allah the Mighty and Majestic says:
But it will prevent punishment from her if she gives four testimonies [swearing] by Allah that indeed, he is of the liars.
ويدرأ عنها العذاب أن تشهد أربع شهادات بالله إنه لمن الكاذبينThe student: ...?
The Shaykh: But we do not say... If he performs li'an, it is accepted from him, and if he deviates, we do not carry out the hadd of zina against her. We imprison her until she confesses to zina or performs li'an with it. As for the custom, if she does not perform li'an, we carry out the hadd against her without doubt. All right, he says: