And if a free, non-muhallan man commits zina, he is to be flogged one hundred lashes and exiled for one year, even if it is a woman.

The Shaykh : The author says "And if a free, non-muhallan man commits zina, he is to be flogged one hundred lashes and exiled for one year, even if it is a woman". If a free, non-muhallan man commits zina—meaning he is free and unmarried, or he married but did not have intercourse, or he had intercourse in a defective or invalid marriage, or he had intercourse while a minor, or he had intercourse while insane—then his prescribed punishment is to be flogged one hundred lashes. What is the evidence? The saying of Allah the Exalted: . It is also established from the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) regarding the son of the man who committed zina with a woman from among his hired workers, that he said to him: . This is established in the two Sahihs. It is also established that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) flogged and exiled, and that Abu Bakr flogged and exiled, and that 'Umar flogged and exiled. This is the correct view: that one combines flogging and exile. Some scholars said that he is not exiled because exile is not mentioned in the Qur'an, and Allah the Exalted said: , and did not mention exile. However, this view is weak because what is established in the Sunnah must be acted upon, just as what is in the Qur'an must be acted upon, based on the saying of Allah the Exalted: , and His saying: , and His saying: . Therefore, we must take what came in the Sunnah, even if it is in addition to what is in the Qur'an. In fact, what came in the Sunnah is part of what came in the Qur'an, as 'Abdullah ibn Mas'ud (may Allah be pleased with him) used as evidence when answering the woman who said to him, "I do not find in the Book of Allah a curse for the one who plucks eyebrows and the one who has them plucked." He said, "It is in the Book of Allah," and then he recited to her the saying of Allah the Exalted: . Exile means that one is banished from his land for a full year. The wisdom behind it is that if he is exiled from the place where the zina occurred, he may forget it. Also, being a stranger compels a person to occupy himself with himself without seeking desire and pleasure, because he is a stranger. Especially if he knows that he was exiled for the sake of the punishment, he will not have the opportunity to return to this matter a second time. However, it is a condition that the place to which he is exiled does not have the permissibility of zina, refuge from Allah. So he is not exiled to a land where its people practice zina. Why? Because if we exiled him to such a land, we would have incited him to it. So he is exiled to a land whose people are known for chastity. Now, if he commits zina in a place other than his homeland, is it valid to exile him to his homeland? What do you say? It is conceivable, for example, a man traveled to a land to fulfill a need and committed zina. Do we exile him to his homeland or to another land? To another land. Because if we return him to his homeland, that is not exile, because we have returned him to his native land. So there must be a state of being a stranger so that he forgets what he was doing. And the woman is also exiled, but with the condition of safety.
The author (may Allah have mercy on him) says: "And if a free, non-muhallan man commits zina, he is to be flogged one hundred lashes and exiled for one year, even if it is a woman". So she is exiled for a period of one year. Now, is it a condition that she has a mahram, or not? And that she is exiled to a safe place. Some scholars of knowledge said she is exiled even without a mahram. There is no doubt that if we exiled her without a mahram, that would be a great harm, because if she is exiled without a mahram, and especially if she needs money, she may perhaps sell her honor in order to eat and drink. The correct view is that if there is no mahram, it is not permissible to exile her. But what do we do? Some scholars of knowledge said she is imprisoned in a safe place. Imprisonment here takes the place of exile, because she will not be in contact with anyone, and no one will be in contact with her. This view is sound. Some scholars said that if exile becomes difficult, it is dropped, like other obligatory duties. For obligatory duties, if performing them becomes difficult, they are dropped. But we say there is no harm in saying that if exile becomes difficult, we do what is a substitute for it or close to it, which is to imprison her in a safe place for one year.

The questioner : ...؟

The Shaykh : No, no, it is known, because the hadith of Abu Bakrah: This is the first thing the verse was revealed, and the story of Ma'iz came after it.