Third: The establishment of zina, which is not established except by one of two things, the first of which is: that he confesses to it four times

The Shaykh : The author (may Allah have mercy on him) says: "Third: The establishment of zina, which is not established except by one of two things"... and there are three ways according to the stronger opinion, whereas in the madhhab, the first way is confession, the second way is the evidence of witnesses, and the stronger opinion is that there are three ways for the establishment of zina: these two ways, and the third way is pregnancy, and the discussion of that will come, if Allah wills. As for confession, the author (may Allah have mercy on him) says: "Third: The establishment of zina, which is not established except by one of two things" And if both are present? That is even more so, but one of the two things establishes it. The first is confession, and the evidence for that is the saying of Allah, Blessed and Exalted is He: and testifying against oneself is confession, so Allah, Mighty and Majestic, commanded the person to confess to what is upon him, even if it is against himself. And the evidence from the Sunnah is that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) stoned [a person] based on confession and flogged [a person] based on confession. Shaykh al-Islam Ibn Taymiyyah said: "And zina was not established by the way of testimony" From the beginning of Islam until the time of Shaykh al-Islam Ibn Taymiyyah, it was not established by the way of testimony, but only by the way of confession, because testimony is difficult, as will become clear, if Allah wills.
And as for the meaning, it is because a person cannot possibly confess to something that defiles his honor and necessitates his punishment unless the matter is indeed so.
So now, with us, the establishment of zina by confession has three pieces of evidence: the Book, the Sunnah, and correct reasoning, and you have known them. The Book is the saying of Allah, the Exalted: , and as for the Sunnah, it is because the Messenger (may the prayer and peace of Allah be upon him) stoned [a person] based on confession and flogged [a person] based on confession. And as for correct reasoning, it is because a person cannot possibly confess to something that defiles his honor and necessitates punishment for himself unless it is true, so the confession... but it has conditions. The author said: "that he confesses to it four times" It is necessary that he confesses four times, so he says that he committed zina, then he says that he committed zina, then he says that he committed zina, then he says that he committed zina. And what is the evidence for that? The evidence for this is the text and analogy. As for the text, it is because the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) did not establish the hadd on Ma'iz ibn Malik until he confessed four times. He would come and confess, and the Messenger (may the prayer and peace of Allah be upon him) would turn away from him until he confessed four times. When he had confessed four times, he said: .
And as for analogy, it is because zina is not established except by the testimony of four men, as Allah, the Exalted, said: So if it is not established except by four witnesses, then confession is analogized to it, so it is not established except by a confession four times.
And as for reasoning, it is because zina is a heinous act and a great matter, and a person should not be described with it except with increased caution, and that is by repeating it four times. This is the aspect of it being a condition that the confession be four times. This is the aspect of its being a condition. So we have with us evidence from the Sunnah, the second is analogy to testimony, and the third is precaution, because zina is a great matter and a heinous act that defiles honor. Then, it is feared that if it occurs, it will become trivial in the minds of the community, and that will lead to its corruption. For this reason, you find that when wrongdoings are rare among people and then they are committed, people find them abhorrent and are repelled by the doer. If another person does it, and a third, and a fourth, and a fifth, it becomes trivial in the eyes of people. For this reason, among the proverbs they say: "With much touching, sensation decreases" And this is an observed matter. We used to, in times past, find it extremely abhorrent to hear the 'ud, the rabab, and musical instruments. We found them abhorrent and no one did it except in a distant room or in a distant wilderness of the desert. And now it has become a common thing because it has become frequent.
Drinking khamr, and whoever says so-and-so drank khamr, when it is said so-and-so drank khamr, his news spreads throughout the horizons of the country, in the entire kingdom, and they see that as a great matter. And now, as you observe, it is mentioned to us that it is found in the refrigerators of some people, just as permissible drinks are found. All this is due to the frequency of its occurrence. So if a person confesses to zina and we stone him or establish the flogging upon him, this might spread among people and they will become lax with it. For this reason, we took precaution in the confession and said it must be four times, so that when he comes and says "I committed zina," we say "You never committed zina," because the Messenger (may the prayer and peace of Allah be upon him) said to Ma'iz: But he says no, he committed zina. So this is the evidence for this issue that it is necessary to repeat the confession four times. And some of the scholars went to the opinion that it is not a condition to confess four times, and that the confession to zina is like others; if he confesses to it once and the conditions of confession are met, such as being of age and sane, there is no harm, and zina is established. And they argued with the generality of the saying of Allah, the Exalted: , and this is a witness.
And they argued from the Sunnah with the saying of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) to Anas, a man from the Ansar: .
And they argued with reasoning that if he confesses against himself, it is established by the single time, because it is not possible for a person to confess to something that defiles his honor and necessitates punishment for himself unless he is truthful in it. So if he is truthful in his confession once, the description of zina applies to him. And if the description of zina applies to him, then Allah, the Exalted, said: .
And as for the issue of the rumor, the rumor does not disappear by his repeating it four times, because when the man confesses four times and insists on it, the matter becomes clear and evident.
It remains for us to answer the evidence of those who say repetition is required, and their strongest hadith is the hadith of Ma'iz. The hadith of Ma'iz (may Allah be pleased with him) shows from the question of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) to him that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) wanted to verify the news, because he asked him: He said no, so he sent to his people and said to them: They said no, he is of our good men in intellect. Then he said: He said: No, until he ordered a man to sniff him, to smell his scent. And this indicates that the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) had some doubt about the confession of this man, and he wanted to verify it. And the evidence for this is that the story of the 'Asif contains only that he said: and the verb is general, which is true for the singular. And likewise the story of the two Jewish men who committed zina, for the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) ordered their stoning and it was not mentioned that they repeated the confession. And likewise the woman of al-Ghamid, the Prophet (may the prayer and peace of Allah be upon him) ordered her stoning and it was not mentioned that she repeated the confession, until she said: O Messenger of Allah, do you want to turn me back as you turned back Ma'iz? And this opinion is stronger, that it is not a condition, especially if the matter has become famous, as in the story of the 'Asif, for this story became famous because his father, the father of the 'Asif, went to ask the people what was upon him? And it was said to him that upon your son are a hundred young she-camels, so he ransomed him with them, until the dispute reached the Messenger (may the prayer and peace of Allah be upon him), and he judged between them by the Book of Allah.
So now we have with us two opinions in the issue. The first opinion is that it is not a condition to repeat the confession, and the second opinion is that it is a condition. But the two opinions agree that if there is a doubt before the judge, then it is obligatory to verify and confirm, and this is agreed upon.
And if someone were to say a middle opinion, that if the matter has become famous and clear among people, then it is sufficient in it with a single confession, unlike if it has not become famous, in which case it is necessary to repeat the confession four times. And on this, this opinion takes from both opinions, so it conditions repetition in one case and does not condition it in another case.