Surah An-Nur 24:1-10 - Quran Translation Commentary

1.This is a Surah (Chapter) which We have revealed,¹ and have made it compulsory,² and in it We have revealed clear commands³ so that you may take heed.⁴

2.The adulteress and the adulterer give either of them hundred lashes ⁵(each). And let not pity for them withhold you from obedience to Allah,⁶ if you believe in Allah and the Last Day. And let their punishment be witnessed by a party of believers.⁷

3.The adulterer does not marry save an adulteress or an idolatress, and the adulteress does not marry save an adulterer or an idolater. All that is forbidden to believers.⁸

4.And those who accuse chaste women and then do not bring four witnesses-then give them eighty lashes,⁹ and never (afterward) accept their testimony.¹⁰ And they are confirmed evil-doers,¹¹

5. Except those who afterward repent and mend their ways. So Allah is Forgiving, Merciful.¹²

6.And those, who accuse their wives and have no witnesses except themselves, let the testimony of one of them be four testimonies (swearing) by Allah that he is of those who speak the truth;

7.And the fifth time, invoking the curse of Allah on him if he be of the liars.

8. And she will be spared the punishment if she bear witness before Allah four times that he (her husband) be of the liars.

9.And the fifth time (she say) that the wrath of Allah be upon her if he is of those who speak the truth¹³.

10. And if it were not for Allah’s grace and mercy on you (you would Have been in real difficulty, so know that Allah is Gracious and Merciful), and that Allah is Acceptor of repentance and Wise¹⁴.

Commentary

1. It becomes clear that the Quranic verses which exist in their present form in specific chapters were arranged in their existing form and order by Allah himself. By referring to this collection of ayat as this Surah is to clarify the importance of its contents.

2. Since in this Surah severe penalties have been mentioned for commitment of unlawful sex and false accusation about the same and the enforcement of these penalties is unpleasant, and since strict commands have been given to prevent sexual irregularity and disorder, it was very clearly stated in the beginning that these commands have been made compulsory and have been enjoined to be obeyed. They must compulsorily be obeyed.

For the enforcement of the penal code it is absolutely necessary that the law givers must have the power to enforce it, and it is related to the social order and the state. From this the status and position of Islam becomes quite clear that it is a’ Dean’ in a wider sense, which provides laws concerning the social life and it also has own penal code, to not enforce it, when the power of enforcement is there, and to enforce in its place man-made laws, amounts not only to evading the obedience of a compulsory duty but also a clear insubordination of the divine command-rebellion against God. But alas! in the present day a majority of Muslim governments is very shamelessly enforcing their own penal codes instead of the Islamic penal code, and in non-Muslims states, where Muslims are citizens. These Muslims hesitate to express the justifiability and superiority of the Islamic penal code, so that their secularism may not be subjected to criticism.

Moreover, it has also become clear that to obtain knowledge of the Quranic contents is also compulsory, because for obedience of the commands knowledge of commands is essential and from the point of view of learning and training the study of the Qur’an is necessary. The effects of the divine commands that are left on the heart and mind are best achieved by the study of the Qur’an, and not by any other book, however useful that book may be. COMMENTARY

3. Clear commands means their meaning and sense are quite clear. After this clarification of Qur’an, it will not be proper to give any meaning other than the clear meaning conveyed by any Quranic command. This ends all the discussion which comes up on taking any clear command of the Qur’an as vague.

4. It is a hint to the point that the penal commands which are being given are for teaching a lesson to the people, that is, for the specific purpose that no one should dare commit the same crime. It also reminds one that when Allah’s law prescribes penalty for the sinners in this world, then why will it not mete out to them severe punishment in the next world which is specially meant for reward and punishment for the deeds and misdeeds done in the world?

5. In connection with this ayah certain points need clarification :

(1) Unlawful sex is a serious sin and a punishable crime. Indulging in unlawful sex by man and woman with their own free will does not absolve them of sin nor are they free from committing a crime. In this sinning man and woman both are equal partners, and are liable to receive equitable punishment. However if man has forcibly committed a rape against the woman, then the woman is without blame and she cannot be said to be an adulteress, and in such a case only man will be liable to be punished.

(2) In the text the word ‘Jaldah’ has been used, which means to strike with such a thing whose effect will be only on the skin and would not exceed it. This purpose can be achieved by a whip or a cane, provided the lash or the strike is not given with such a force that the skin is split and the body bleeds. At the time of striking the ordinary clothes that may be on the body should be allowed to remain, and the face and the delicate parts should not be hit. Man will be made to stand and the woman to sit while striking.

(3) For general crimes, two witnesses are sufficient, but for the crime of unlawful sex Qur’an has prescribed four witnesses. This hard condition has been prescribed in order that the good name and honour of some one may not be spoilt easily.

(4) The wording of the ayah shows that the command is of a general nature, that is the adulterer and the adulteress may be married or bachelor, both of them be given hundred lashes each, but from a large number of traditions it is learnt that the Prophet in a number of cases, commanded that the married man and the married woman be stoned to death, which the Prophet’s companions obeyed. These traditions can be found is Bukhari, Muslim, Tirmizi, Abu Dawood, and Muatta, etc. This command was also acted upon in the time of the Righteous Khalifas, and the scholars and the jurists of the Ummah are agreed upon this. Besides, in a hadith, which is authentic from the viewpoint of its sources, this principle has emerged :-

“The killing of any Muslim, who gives witness that there is no god except Allah, and that I am Allah’s messenger, is not lawful, except when any of the three eventualities occur: he has killed somebody, or has indulged in unlawful sex, though married, or has abandoned the religion and left the community.” (i.e. has become apostate). (Bukhari)

Therefore, for a married man and woman the punishment of being stoned to death on committing unlawful sex is an undeniable fact. However the question arises that Qur’an prescribes the general penalty of lashes for the adulterer and adulteress, while the hadith lays down the punishment of stoning to death for the married adulterer and the married adulteress; so how can the two be reconciled? Its answer is rather in detail:

In the pre-Islamic period (Jahiliyah) unlawful sex was common, and if it was indulged into with willingness, then there was no question of any penalty, as is the case in the present ‘civilized jahiliyah’, In order to introduce extreme punishment for this horrible crime it was necessary to do it gradually, as was done in the case of alcoholic drink: first the drinkers were asked to hate it and subsequently it was declared totally unlawful, haram. And then for drunkards penalty was prescribed, and even this punishment was also introduced gradually, i.e. first there was the command to hit with the hand and later on giving lashes was prescribed. Details of this punishment is found in the hadith. In view of this intelligent prescription of the Shariah, in Madina in the first stage adulteresses, whether married or unmarried, were commanded to be confined to their houses and a broad penalty was prescribed for the adulterer and the adulteress, whether married or unmarried. This command was given in Surah An Nisa, ayat Nos.15 and 16. There after, in the second stage, this ayah of Surah An- Noor was reveled, according to which every adulterer or adulteress, whether married or unmarried, was to be given one hundred lashes. By this command the women who were confined within the four walls of their houses were allowed to move out, which was promised in Surah An-Nisa, in these words :

“confine them to the houses until death completes their time, or Allah opens for them some other way,” (Nisa - 15)

The way here refers to their being freed from the prison of their houses and the command for giving them lashes was the way for their release. The command to stone to death was not given at that time, nor was stoning to death termed as the way or the ‘sabeel’ At this stage the command to lash was given as a general rule, which was quite apt, because till then the command to stone to death a married person was not at all given.

Subsequently, that is one year after the revelation of Surah Noor, probably in 07 A.H., which is the third stage of the command for penalty for the unlawful sex, extreme penalty prescribed. Accordingly in all the cases of unlawful sex that came up before the Prophet, he prescribed the penalty of stoning to death for the married adulterer and the married adulteress. This was adhered to So strictly that in the case of an adulterer and an adulteress of Jewish origin, he gave the judgment of stoning them to death, and in this connection referred to the command in the Torah in support of his judgment:

“If a man is found lying with the wife of another man, both of them shall die, the man who lay with the woman, and the woman; so you Shall purge the evil from Israel.

“If there is a betrothed virgin, and a man meets her in the city and lies with her then you shall bring them both out the gate of that city, and shall stone them to death with stones.” (Deut 22:22.23)

(for these cases see Bukhari, Muslim. Tirmizi. Abu Dawood and other books of hadith- Kitab Al-Hudood-limits).

In this way in the last stage of gradual enforcement the Prophet’s tradition, which was fixed in the light of the divine revelation, the penalty of stoning to death was fixed for the married adulterer and adulteress. By this the penalty of striking lashes came to be fixed in the ayah under reference of Surah Noor in the case of unmarried man and woman, committing the crime of unlawful sex, and in this case now there is no general applicability for this command, which is apparent from its wording. Many examples can be given of the specification of the Quranic commands by the traditions or the authentic ahadith of the Prophet for example in the Surah Jumu’ah the command is to run to the remembrance of Allah as soon as you hear the Azan is ordinarily meant for men and women, but the sunnah has exempted women from observing this command and made it specific for men. Qur’an has commanded to obey the instructions given in the will executed by a Muslim and there is no limitation, but Sunnah has fixed its limitation to one-third part. Therefore if the Sunnah has made the penalty of lashes specific for the bachelor adulterer and adulteress and prescribed a harsher punishment for the married adulterer and adulteress, then what is unusual about it ? Commitment of this crime by a married person makes it more reprehensible, and therefore, the punishment for it should be more harsh for it, comparatively, Therefore, the limit of penalty that has been fixed by the Sunnah is based on justice.

Although the penalty of stoning to death has not been described in the Qur’an, however the ayah No. 19 of the Surah Noor itself states :

“Those” who like to propagate lewdness among the believers, for them there is painful punishment in the world and also in the Hereafter.” This ayah demands that those who commit unlawful sex should be given harsh punishment. By prescribing the penalty of stoning to death for those married persons who are found guilty of unlawful sex the Sunnah has met the objective of this ayah. Therefore, it would not be correct that there is no source of prescribing the penalty of stoning to death in the Qur’an. However, this argument in support of the penalty of stoning to death (rajm) by a narrative ascribed to Umar (R) is not correct that he had said that there was an ayah in the Qur’an in support of ‘rajm’, but subsequently its recitation was cancelled, but the command remained. It is a senseless thing which has crept into the narratives and ascribing it to Umar (R) is not right. Qur’an is absolute truth, there is no room for doubt in its authenticity. Its authenticity is not proved by the narrative of a narrator but by open and unbroken continuity of memorisation, recitation and repetition among the entire Ummah, and the Almighty Allah has taken on Himself the responsibility of protecting its authenticity. Then if any narrative that would claim any addition in the Qur’an, then its claim would be totally false. Therefore, this narrative is not such as would merit any importance. Then the wording and the style of the ayah (ash-shaikhu wa ash-shaihah ...) are so ungainly that to insert it into the Qur’an is like joining a wall of dust to the grand Taj Mahal.

Then if it was a revealed ayah, then its being cancelled for the purpose of recitation but its command being allowed to be operative is a thing which can be understood only by traditional- worshipers. What a pity that people did not rest content with inventing merely ahadith but had the audacity of inventing the word of Allah, And the traditional worshipers try to prove such senseless and absurd narratives to be authentic.

(5) In the ayah the address is to the people of faith, therefore the Muslim society is responsible for enforcing this penalty, and the practicable way to enforcing it is that the Muslim governments which represent the Muslims should enforce and put into practice this law as well as other Shariah laws in their kingdoms.

6. It means that wherever Allah’s religion demands harshness, one should not be soft. Allama Razi writes :

“By stating “in the religion of Allah,” Muslims have been warned that when Allah has commanded that a task is compulsory, then being soft in contrast is not right.” - (Tafseer Kabeer, Vol. 23, page 148).

There can be various kinds of softness, e.g. one form is that the Shariah law is substituted by another soft law, which is kufr, denial of Islam. The second form is that in practice concession may be given in its enforcement, and the third form is that the striking should be so light that the very purpose of the penalty is defeated. All these forms of softness should be avoided.

The Shariah penal laws are harsh undoubtedly but they are necessary to prevent commitment of crimes and to give a lesson to the criminals. Accordingly the less number of crimes in the holy lands of Makkah and Madina to the amazing extent is only due to enforcement of these harsh laws, which is a blessing in disguise.

In the present day very light punishments are prescribed for the criminals. People show mercy for the tyrants, but they have no mercy for the oppressed who become victims of kidnapping, murder, and looting. They do not also see the harshness which the police uses in forcing the criminals to admit their guilty They subject the guilty persons to such inhuman tortures that barbaric periods of history come to mind. Sometimes the guilty person dies at the hands of the police, although his involvement in the crime is not proved.

7. That is :A number of Muslims should remain present at the time the punishment is being executed so that people may take a lesson, and nobody should dare commit such a crime in future.

8. In this ayah the general behaviour of the adulterers has been mentioned. An adulterer has no hesitation or disinclination to marry an adulteress or a polytheistic woman, nor an adulteress from marrying an adulterer or a polytheist, but for the people of faith seeking such relationship is haram or forbidden. For a woman of faith it is absolutely unlawful to marry an adulterer or a polytheist, nor is it lawful for a man of faith to marry an adulteress or a polytheistic woman. Such relationships are not proper for men or women of faith on account of their wicked acts and wicked beliefs, therefore they should be avoided at all costs.

So far as rape is concerned, an adulterer commits it even with a chaste woman, and such a woman cannot be called, an adulteress. Similarly, if a Muslim lady is married, in her ignorance to an adulterer, she also does not become an adulteress. Therefore, this interpretation of the ayah appears to be correct, else Allah knows best.

9. Here false accusation means false accusation about unlawful sex, and accusing falsely chaste women of unlawful sex is tarnishing their image and dishonouring them, which is a cause of their disrepute and most damaging. Therefore, shariah has fixed a very severe punishment for those who are unable to prove such an accusation convincingly, i.e. eighty lashes.

This penalty is not for false accusation of any kind, but specifically for false accusation of unlawful sex, which in the Fiqh terminology is called ‘Qazf’ To give punishment is the task of the Islamic court of law, before which the case has been presented, and when the accuser fails to produce four witnesses.

10.That is: the evidence of the false accuser is not acceptable for all times subsequently.

11. That is: They have uttered a very big lie and tried to tarnish the image and, honour of chaste women. Therefore, they have committed a very severe sin (fisq).

Incidentally a principle also emerges clearly that a Muslim can also become a fasiq, that is sinner if he commits a major sin. If he can be liable to be punished severely in this world, then why cannot he be considered liable to be punished severely in the next world! But today a very large number of Muslims is under the wrong impression that even while leading a life of luxury and sin because they are believers in the kalimah of monotheism, they will not have to face any punishment in the Hereafter.

12. That is: If such a person repents and thereafter mends his ways, then he will not remain fasiq, sinner, transgressor. Allah will forgive him his sins and will bestow mercy on him. Then in the Muslim society also he will not be termed as fasiq or sinner.

13. In these ayat the command concerning ‘Li’an’ has been related. Li’an means that the husband and the wife should give statements on oath that if they are telling a lie then Allah’s curse be on them. If the husband accuses his wife of unlawful sex, but he does not have four witnesses, except his personal evidence, while for proving unlawful sex four witnesses are necessary, then he should give a statement on oath before the Islamic court four times that he is telling the truth and at the fifth time he should swear by Allah that Allah’s curse be on him if he is telling a lie. After this, the wife will be given the opportunity to refute her husband’s charge if she claims that he is telling a lie. For this refutation she will have to give statement on oath four times and at the fifth time she will have to swear by Allah that Allah’s curse be on her if the husband is telling the truth. Thereafter the court will separate the two of them and neither will be punished. If after the statement on oath of the husband the wife does not deny the charge against her by a statement on oath, then she will be liable for punishment. This punishment will be the same which has been mentioned in the ayah No.2 above, i.e. one hundred lashes, because here the same punishment can be taken into account which is referred to in this context.

It is true that the penalty for the married woman for unlawful sex is stoning to death according to Sunnah, but it is only when four witnesses have given evidence for the same and the guilt is confirmed by these witnesses, or the accused woman has herself confessed that she is guilty. Here none of the two conditions exists. Therefore, for not denying the accusation of the husband by a statement on oath, there is no argument to give the extreme punishment to the wife. Therefore the wife can be given only the minimum punishment provided in the case, i.e.hundred lashes.

The Hanafi Fiqh prescribes the punishment of imprisonment for the wife, that is as long as the wife does not deny the charge of the husband by a statement of oath she will be kept in custody. But in the ayah No.8 (she will be spared the punishment), there is no indication to take the punishment to be imprisonment. In the nearby ayah (No.2) the penalty for unlawful sex has been mentioned, and in connection with unlawful sex it is stated that ‘she will be spared the punishment’, therefore, here the mind turns to this punishment only, that is to the punishment mentioned in the ayah No.2, that is the punishment of one hundred lashes.

When Li’an takes place, the nikah is dissolved. Accordingly in the hadith it is stated : The Prophet (Sallal Lahu Alaihi Wa Sallam) executed Li’an between an Ansar man and his wife, and separated them (Bukhari-Kitabut-Talaq). The command for Li’an is found in the Torah also, but not with such a detail as is found in the Qur’an(See Numbers-5:11 to 31).

14. That is: This is Allah’s grace and blessing that He has provided you guidance in the complicated family problems and it is His mercy that He has arranged for you to come out of difficult situations. If it were not so, you would have been in great difficulties. He is the Acceptor of Repentance, and He has kept the gate of repentance open for the sinners; they can repent and mend themselves and can deserve to receive His grace. He is Wise therefore, these commands and laws of His are based on wisdom and exigencies. Only those people consider them unwise and unintelligent who do not believe in Allah’s being Wise.

It may be noted that the predicate of the subjective clause, ‘if it were not...’ is not stated in the Quranic text and is understood, which is in keeping with the Arabic tradition of figurative writing, but we have stated it in the brackets as is clear from the context.