60. After Allah had demonstrated His kindness to women in the previous verses, He came down hard upon (the morally corrupt ones of) them in these verses so that they might not imagine that their waywardness will be tolerated (Razi, Qurtubi, Shawkani).

61. A literal translation of ya’tina ‘l-fahishata should be: “... (Such of the women who) go to indecency;” and the point in the choice of words, says Razi, suggests that indecencies are not easily available to women. They have to go looking for them.

62. According to Abu Muslim al-Asfahani, the allusion is to lesbians (Razi). But there is no consensus of opinion over this issue (Au.).

63. (The four witnesses should) be males, adults (not children), free men (not slaves), of sound mind ... Muslims not infidels .. (whose testimony should be) ocular, not conjectural known in modern legal phraseology as ‘circumstantial.’ Every possible safeguard is taken against hasty and false accusation (Majid). Scholars have emphasized that for a testimony to be acceptable the witnesses must say that they saw the very act as clearly as a piston in a cylinder. Imam Abu Hanifah has added the condition that the husband cannot be one of the four witnesses (Qurtubi). Zuhri has said that it has been the practice since the time of the Prophet and his two successors that women’s testimony was not acceptable in cases involving a capital punishment (Manar). Shafi` adds: It is said that as against the usual two in all other matters requiring witnesses, four are required as a sure evidence for adultery. It is perhaps because adultery requires two persons, and the capital punishment is executed on two, hence the number of witnesses has been doubled.

64. The reference is to those women, married or otherwise, who commit adultery. At the time this verse was revealed the order was to detain them in their homes until death overtook them. Thanwi states the Hanafiyy view-point that the rule regarding detaining such women retained in their homes stands abrogated.

65. The way shown later was the capital punishment prescribed in verse (24: 2) which said:

ﭛ ﭜ ﭝ ﭞ ﭟ ﭠ ﭡ ﭢﭣ

“The fornicatress and the fornicator, give them a hundred lashes each,” which was for the unmarried (ghair muhsan) while it was stoning to death for the married (muhsan) - Ibn `Abbas, Mujahid, Qatadah, `Ata’, Ibn Zayd and Dahhak (Ibn Jarir). Suddi has added that in case of adultery, the husband used to claim back his dower. But when punishment was prescribed by the Qur’an, he only got what was due to him by inheritance. `Ubadah b. Samit has reported:

عَنْ عُبَادَةَ بْنِ الصَّامِتِ أَنَّ النَّبِيَّ صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ كَانَ إِذَا نَزَلَ عَلَيْهِ الْوَحْيُ كَرَبَ لَهُ وَتَرَبَّدَ وَجْهُهُ وَإِذَا سُرِّيَ عَنْهُ قَالَ خُذُوا عَنِّي خُذُوا عَنِّي ثَلَاثَ مِرَارٍ قَدْ جَعَلَ اللَّهُ لَهُنَّ سَبِيلًا الثَّيِّبُ بِالثَّيِّبِ وَالْبِكْرُ بِالْبِكْرِ الثَّيِّبُ جَلْدُ مِائَةٍ وَالرَّجْمُ وَالْبِكْرُ جَلْدُ مِائَةٍ وَنَفْيُ سَنَةٍ

Whenever revelation descended on the Prophet he lowered his head, and so did his Companions. (On one occasion) he raised his head (after a revelation) and said: “Allah has shown a way for them: for the married with the married and the virgin with the virgin. As for the married, she should be given lashes and then stoned to death. As for the virgin she should be given lashes and then expelled” (Ibn Jarir). The hadith is in Musnad Ahmad and with some variations in Muslim and Abu Da’ud also (Ibn Kathir, Shawkani). Thus, this hadith explained that it is speaking of the unmarried (Au.). It is reported of `Umar (ra), in a hadith of Bukhari, that he said: “Surely, Allah commissioned the Prophet with the Truth, sending down a Book to him. There used to be verses in the revelation that ordered stoning to death. Accordingly, the Prophet stoned them to death and we do that after him. The commandment for stoning to death, (in the original revelation), was in the Book of Allah, until its recitation, (and not the commandment itself), was abrogated. It is applicable to the married men and women” (Shafi`). Details will follow in Surah al-Nur. However, Ibn Jarir adds, in practice the Prophet did not give the married lashes before stoning to death. (As in the case of Ma`iz Aslami and the Ghamidi woman: Ibn Kathir). As for expelling the criminal, it is for one year, with the differences in opinion whether a woman should be expelled or not (Qurtubi). According to a hadith in Nasa’i (Abwab Shurb al-Khamr) `Umar expelled a man for drinking wine. In his anger the man went and joined the Romans, adopting their faith. `Umar then said: “I shall not expel anyone after this” (Au.).

66. There is some difference in opinion whether the two alluded to are: “two unmarried persons” (Suddi), “two men” (Mujahid), or “the pair, man and woman” (`Ata’, `Ikrimah and Hasan al-Busri: Ibn Jarir). If it is “two men” then obviously the allusion is to sodomy, about which the Prophet has said:

"مَنْ رأيتُمُوه يَعَمَلُ عَمَل قَوْمِ لُوطٍ فاقتلوا الفاعلَ والمفعول بِهِ" (ابوداؤد, ترمذي, ابن ماجه)

“When you discover two people doing what the people of Lut used to do, kill them both: the active as well as the passive” (Ibn Kathir). A man sodomizing his wife is also strictly prohibited. A hadith says:

لا يَنْظُرُ اللَّهُ عَزَّ وَجَلَّ إِلَى الرَّجُلِ يَأْتِي امْرَأَتَهُ فِي دُبُرِهَا

“Allah will not look at a man who sodomized a woman” (Shafi`).

67. Accordingly, they used to be punished either with verbal insults, (Mujahid and Suddi) or physically assaulted (Ibn `Abbas), varying from person to person. However, according to the majority of the Salaf, this verse was also abrogated by the verse referred to above, i.e., 24: 2 (Ibn Jarir). Nonetheless, according to many scholars of the later generation the verse under discussion is not abrogated (by 24: 2), since both the punishments of a minor and major kind followed by the capital punishment of stoning to death can be prescribed together to the same defaulter (Shawkani). However, detaining in the house stands abrogated by consensus (Qurtubi). So far as combining the two punishments is concerned, we have the case of Shuraha al-Hamdaniyyah who was brought before `Ali. He ordered that she be given a hundred lashes and then stoned to death, saying: “I have lashed her following the Book of Allah and stoned her following the Sunnah of the Prophet.” This is the position adopted by Hasan al-Busri and others (Qurtubi).

68. Accordingly, the Prophet said in a hadith of the Sahihayn:

إِذَا زَنَتْ أَمَةُ أَحَدِكُمْ فَتَبَيَّنَ زِنَاهَا فَلْيَجْلِدْهَا الْحَدَّ وَلَا يُثَرِّبْ عَلَيْهَا

“If one of your slave girls fornicates, give her lashes; but subsequent to that do not taunt her” (Ibn Kathir).

69. That is, Allah is oft-turning to His slaves with what they desire to receive from Him, if they are oft-turning to Him with what He demands of their obedience (Ibn Jarir). Qurtubi remarks: As for the opinion that he who continued in sins after repentance, did not repent at all, well, it is the opinion of the Mu`tazilah. The Ahl al-Sunnah say that repetition does not nullify earlier repentance.

70. Majid writes: “Repentance has for its elements:- (i) enlightenment of the heart, (ii) detestation of the sin, (iii) a resolve to avoid it in future, (iv) an earnest crying for God’s forgiveness." Adds Shafi`: Compensation for the wrongful act is also an essential feature of repentance. If it is the missing of salah, or fasts, the repentant should repeat them. If the right of other human beings is involved, it should be restored, (such as, for instance, restoration of the money or article usurped: Au.)

71. Qatadah has said that the Companions were unanimous that every sin, whether intentional or unintentional, falls under jahalah of the original here; and hence, many have said that so long as a man continues in his sin, he is a jahil, until he gives it up (Ibn Jarir, Ibn Kathir). Razi writes: Yusuf had said (12: 33):

ﮖ ﮗ ﮘ ﮙ ﮚ

“(Lest) I should incline toward them and thus become of the jahilin.” In the same chapter he said (verse 89): ﭾ ﭿ ﮀ ﮁ ﮂ ﮃ ﮄ ﮅ ﮆ ﮇ “Do you realize what you did with Yusuf and his brother while you were jahilun?”

72. According to Ibn `Abbas, Dahhak, `Ikrimah, Ibn Zayd and others, the time limit of min qaribin is up to the moment of death. Once a man sees the angels of death, the time is up. This is in view of the hadith of Abu Qulabah (in Musnad Ahmad: Ibn Kathir) who said:

وعِزَّتِك لا أزَالُ أُغْوِيهم ما دامت أرْوَاحهُمْ في أجسادهم. فقال الله عز وجل: وعزتي وجلالي، لا أزال أغْفِرُ لهم ما اسْتَغْفَرُوني

“(When Allah cursed Iblis) he said, ‘By Your Greatness! I shall keep deviating them so long as their soul is in their body.’ Allah replied, ‘By My Greatness! I shall not cease forgiving them so long as they keep seeking My forgiveness.” Another hadith (of Ibn `Umar in Tirmidhi and Ibn Majah with the former declaring it hasan gharib: Qurtubi, Ibn Kathir) makes it all the more clear:

إِنَّ اللَّهَ يَقْبَلُ تَوْبَةَ الْعَبْدِ مَا لَمْ يُغَرْغِرْ

“Allah accepts the repentance of a slave until (he starts) gurgling (in the throat, near death)” - Ibn Jarir. It is also true of nations. After they have seen irrefutable signs, their belief does not avail them, as said Allah in (6:158):

ﭠ ﭡ ﭢ ﭣ ﭤ ﭥ ﭦ ﭧ ﭨ ﭩ ﭪ ﭫ ﭬ ﭭ ﭮ ﭯ ﭰ ﭱ ﭲﭳ

“The day when some of the signs of your Lord appear, the belief of a soul that had not believed earlier, or had not earned a good deed in its faith, will be of no avail to it” (Ibn Kathir). Thanwi remarks: There are two states before death. One in which a person feels - say in a sickness - that he might not recover, rather might die soon. This is known as the moment of ya‘s. Repentance at this stage, whether from sins, or from kufr itself, is acceptable. Another is that state in which the Hereafter begins to (in the words of Majid) unfold itself before him. This is termed as the moment of ba’s. At this stage repentance of no kind is acceptable. In other words nearness of death is no bar to acceptance of repentance. It is the observation of clear signs of death which makes it unacceptable (Razi). That said, says Rashid Rida in Manar, how many people have not been misled to believe that they would repent before death, but despite prolonged lives, death did not give them that opportunity.

73. The meaning of Allah turning to them is that He guides them to good deeds and accepts their turning to Him (when they repent) - Ibn Jarir.

74. It is not necessary that those alone are the subjects of this verse who commit sins upon sins. Rather, if one commits a single sin, but does not repent, he is equally counted as one of those who insist on the sin (israr). As to the question about someone who did not repent his sins, or did so only in moments of ba’s, will he be forgiven in the Hereafter? The answer is that it will entirely depend upon Allah’s mercy (Thanwi).

75. The kurhan of the original can also be understood as “forcibly.” Further, it is not the inheriting “from women” that is the subject of the verse, as a contemporary commentator has thought. Rather, it is inheriting “them” (Au.). In the days of Ignorance, (especially in Madinah), the nearest of kin used to get the deceased man’s wife as inheritance. He - a brother-in-law, a son, or a relative - claimed her as his, by simply throwing a piece of cloth over her head as soon as her husband died (Razi), declaring her his property. Thereafter he treated her as he wished, letting her marry a second time or detaining her for life, in order to inherit her wealth, or alternatively, she released herself by paying him some money. The case of Kubaysha bint Ma`mar, whose husband Abu Qays b. al-Aslat had died, and who was being claimed by her son, was brought to the notice of the Prophet. Allah revealed this verse: Ibn `Abbas, `Ikrimah, Dahhak, Ibn Zayd, Hasan al-Busri (Ibn Jarir, Qurtubi, Shawkani). Ibn `Abbas’s opinion is in Bukhari, Abu Da’ud, Nasa’i and others (Ibn Kathir). (The report of Kubaysha is in Nasa’i, Ibn abi Hatim and others: Shawkani; as well as in Ibn Marduwayh: Ibn Kathir). Majid notes: “Even in Greco-Roman civilization, the married woman at Athens ‘was part of the paternal patrimony,’ and ‘the dying husband could leave her by will to a friend, with his goods and by the same title’ (Letourneau, Evolution of Marriage, p. 261). ‘The widows ... were regarded as part of the estate, and as such passed ordinarily into the hands of their husbands’ heirs’ (Roberts, Social Laws of the Qoran, pp. 62-63) ... One verse of the Qur’an was sufficient, as by one stroke, to sweep aside all such barbaric customs - a reform of truly revolutionary nature.”

76. This part of the verse is addressing the Muslims. They are being told that they ought not to make the lives of their wives miserable in order to force them to relinquish a part of their dower or return the articles gifted to them, to free themselves. This is the opinion of Ibn `Abbas, Qatadah, Sa`id, Suddi, Dahhak and others (Ibn Jarir, Ibn Kathir).

77. That is, if a woman commits a grave indecency then it is permissible for the husband to claim a part or whole of the dower and release her (Ibn Jarir). A husband can resort to this despite the wife’s unwillingness and hence the addition of the word kurhan in the original (Qurtubi). As for the term fahisha, it has been variously understood. Ibn Mas`ud, Ibn `Abbas, Dahhak, and `Ata’ have said that if a woman detests her husband, or disobeys him, he can claim back the dower. But Suddi and Hasan al-Busri have said that by fahisha the allusion is to adultery (Ibn Jarir, Qurtubi). In this connection we have a hadith of the Prophet which says:

اتَّقُوا اللَّهَ فِى النِّسَاءِ فَإِنَّكُمْ أَخَذْتُمُوهُنَّ بِأَمَانَةِ اللَّهِ وَاسْتَحْلَلْتُمْ فُرُوجَهُنَّ بِكَلِمَةِ اللَّهِ وَإِنَّ لَكُمْ عَلَيْهِنَّ أَنْ لا يُوطِئْنَ فُرُشَكُمْ أَحَدًا تَكْرَهُونَهُ فَإِنْ فَعَلْنَ فَاضْرِبُوهُنَّ ضَرْبًا غَيْرَ مُبَرِّحٍ وَلَهُنَّ عَلَيْكُمْ رِزْقُهُنَّ وَكِسْوَتُهُنَّ بِالْمَعْرُوفِ

“Fear Allah with respect to women, for, you take them as a trust of Allah, making them lawful unto yourselves by a word of Allah. It is your right that they do not allow anyone to enter your house someone you do not approve of. (According to another version: ‘They do not disobey you in generally recognized affairs of importance: al-ma`ruf). If they do that then beat them - lightly. And it is their right upon you that you feed and clothe them in an equitable manner” (Ibn Jarir). Ibn Sirin has said that the allegation of adultery has to be well proved for the husband to seek khul` on that basis (Kashshaf).

78. The Prophet (saws) has said:

عَنْ عَائِشَةَ قَالَتْ قَالَ رَسُولُ اللَّهِ صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ خَيْرُكُمْ خَيْرُكُمْ لِأَهْلِهِ وَأَنَا خَيْرُكُمْ لِأَهْلِي

“The best of you are those who are best with their wives, and I’m the best of you in treating my womenfolk.” The Prophet himself used to treat his wives well. He even raced with `A’isha in the field, once losing to her and, in a re-try after a spell, winning. At times he and his wives gathered in someone’s house and shared a dinner together. Then they would depart and he would spend some time conversing with the wife he was to spend the night with before going to bed (Ibn Kathir). Also see note 3 of this surah.

79. The allusion is to personal reasons of dislike (and not moral) - Kashshaf. Accordingly, a well known scholar, Abu Muhammad ibn abi Zayd, had a wife who used to mistreat him awfully but he would not divorce her saying: “I am someone on whom Allah has showered His mercy in a variety of ways. Now it is possible that Allah is punishing me at her hand because of some of my sins. If that is so then I am afraid other forms of punishment will descend on me if I divorced her” (Qurtubi).

80. Thus the verse sets no upward limit to the amount of dower (Au.). The incident of `Umar is well known in this connection. He was once delivering a sermon on the dangers of high dower and recommending that the amount be limited to 400 Dirhams, when an old woman got up and told him: “Fear Allah `Umar. He has said: ‘Even if you have given them a heap (of wealth).’” `Umar retracted his words hastily, saying: “Everyone seems to know better than `Umar.” (According to other versions: “If not for this old woman, `Umar would have been destroyed”: au.) - Kashshaf, Razi, Qurtubi and Ibn Kathir. Shawkani takes it from Suyuti who has said that the report is of good isnad. The Arabic version is as follows:

وروي " أن عمر خطب ناهيا عن المغالاة في الصداق زيادة على أربعمائة فقالت امرأة من قريش أما سمعت الله تعالى يقول وآتيتم إحداهن قنطارا فقال عمر كل أحد أعلم وأفقه من عمر"

81. Thanwi has pointed out that to demand from a woman monetary compensation for separation, is itself a slander. Even if she is innocent, people around would think that there must be something fishy for the husband to demand a sum for her release.

82. In pre-Islamic times when husbands wanted to get rid of a wife and at the same time make some money out of the affair, they falsely alleged that their wives had been unfaithful. So they sent them away on false charges and impounded their dower also (Razi in effect).

83. Technically, if the pair have been alone in a room together for a while, then that is being in privy, whether they went any further or not. Abu Hanifah has said that with that full dower upon the man and the waiting period for the woman become obligatory, although other scholars have modified opinions (Qurtubi). It is said that the companionship of anyone for 20 days converts him to a relative. What about one’s spouse from whom nothing is held in secret? (Zamakhshari).

84. The solemn compact has been explained by Qatadah, Dahhak, Suddi and Muhammad b. Sirin as the conditions stated in verse (2: 229):

فَإِمْسَاكٌ بِمَعْرُوفٍ أَوْ تَسْرِيحٌ بِإِحْسَانٍ [البقرة : 229]

“Honorable retention or release with kindness,” understood at the time of betrothal. But Mujahid, Muhammad b. Ka`b and Ibn Zayd have said that it is marriage itself which is the solemn compact (Ibn Jarir, Qurtubi, Ibn Kathir). The promise made by a man that he will pay the dower is also a solemn pact made at the time of the marriage (Thanwi).

85. Ibn `Abbas has said that the pre-Islamic Arabs used to marry their fathers’ wives (though not real mothers: Au.) and keep in their marriage two real sisters at a time. Allah prohibited the practice by this verse. Ibn `Abbas has also added that by this dictum such a woman is also prohibited whom one’s father or son married, whether they went in or not (Ibn Jarir). The rule now is that if someone marries a wife of his father, he is to be killed and his wealth transferred to the public treasury, as says a report (in Ahmad) of Bara’ b. `Azib who says his uncle was sent by the Prophet (saws) to behead a man who had married his father’s wife, and to confiscate his wealth (Ibn Kathir). This sahih report is in Ahmad, Ibn Majah, Tirmidhi, Abu Da’ud and others (S. Ibrahim). The Arabic version is as follows:

عَنِ الْبَرَاءِ قَالَ لَقِيتُ خَالِي وَمَعَهُ الرَّايَةُ فَقُلْتُ أَيْنَ تُرِيدُ قَالَ بَعَثَنِي رَسُولُ اللَّهِ صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ إِلَى رَجُلٍ تَزَوَّجَ امْرَأَةَ أَبِيهِ مِنْ بَعْدِهِ أَنْ أَضْرِبَ عُنُقَهُ أَوْ أَقْتُلَهُ وَآخُذَ مَالَه

Imam Abu Hanifah has said that even that woman is prohibited to a son who ever had an affair with his father (Razi, Thanwi).

86. The word in the original is maqt. Literally it is used for a hateful thing. Marriage to the father’s wives in pre-Islamic times was also called marriage of maqt (Kashshaf).

87. Imam Razi says that there are three kinds of “the despicable:” first, declared so by reason, secondو declared so by Revelations and third, that which is treated so by the common people. The word “indecency” (fahisha) alludes to the first kind, the words “a hateful thing” (maqt) alludes to the second kind and the words “an evil way” (saa’a sabila) alludes to the third kind. Legal Points • 1. Only an Islamic state can prescribe the capital punishment of death. Individuals or communities cannot (Thanwi). • 2. Regarding the husband demanding the return of the dower from his adulteress wife, that was the rule in the beginning of Islam. The rule now (according to the Hanafiyyah: Au.) is that dower is due to the adulteress wife also (even if the crime is proved: Au.) - Thanwi. • 3. A husband can only claim back a part or whole of his dower if the wife is recalcitrant. However, if he disapproves her for some other reason, then he cannot impose such conditions for separation (Thanwi).