سورة النور

The Messenger (peace be upon him and his family): Hilal ibn Umayyah accused his wife of committing adultery with Sharik ibn Sahma. The Prophet (peace be upon him and his family) said: "Either you must bring a witness, or lashes will be struck upon your back." Hilal [in astonishment] said: "O Messenger of Allah! If one of us sees another man with his wife [in the act of adultery], must he go looking for a witness?!" Again the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him and his family) said: "Either you must bring a witness, or lashes will be struck upon your back." Hilal said: "By the One who sent you in truth as a Prophet, I speak the truth, and soon Allah will send down a verse that will save my back from [being struck by] the lash." Then this verse was revealed: وَ الَّذِینَ یَرْمُونَ أَزْواجَهُمْ وَ لَمْ یَکُنْ لَهُمْ شُهَداءُ إِلّا أَنْفُسُهُمْ فَشَهادَةُ أَحَدِهِمْ أَرْبَعُ شَهاداتٍ بِاللهِ إِنَّهُ لَمِنَ الصّادِقِینَ [And (as for) those who accuse their wives and have no witnesses except themselves, the evidence of one of these (should be taken) four times, bearing Allah to witness that he is most surely of the truthful ones].

Imam Ali (peace be upon him): As for the verses whose ta'wil [external instance] existed before the verse itself was revealed, they are like the words of Allah the Exalted concerning matters that occurred during the time of the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him and his family) about which Allah had not previously sent down any clearly expressed ruling, and the Prophet (peace be upon him and his family) had no ruling regarding that matter, and what should be done about it was also not known [among the Muslims] ... and like that is the case of "li'an" (the mutual cursing between husband and wife). When the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him and his family) returned from the battle of Tabuk, Uwaymir ibn al-Harith al-'Ajlani came to him and said: "O Messenger of Allah! My wife has committed adultery with Sharik ibn Samkhat!" The Prophet (peace be upon him and his family) turned away from him. Uwaymir repeated his words; again the Prophet (peace be upon him and his family) turned away from him. Uwaymir repeated his words a third time. The Prophet (peace be upon him and his family) stood up and went inside his house. At that moment the verse of li'an was revealed, and the Prophet (peace be upon him and his family) went to Uwaymir and said: "Bring your wife to me, for Allah has revealed a verse concerning your matter." Uwaymir went and brought his wife, and since his wife was a woman of honour among the Ansar, her tribe and clan also came with her. They reached the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him and his family) while he was engaged in performing the Asr prayer. When he finished the prayer, he turned to the two of them and said: "Come close to the pulpit and curse one another." Uwaymir came beside the pulpit and the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him and his family) recited the verse of li'an for the two of them: وَ الَّذِینَ یَرْمُونَ أَزْواجَهُمْ وَ لَمْ یَکُنْ لَهُمْ شُهَداءُ إِلَّا أَنْفُسُهُمْ فَشَهادَةُ أَحَدِهِمْ أَرْبَعُ شَهاداتٍ بِاللهِ إِنَّهُ لَمِنَ الصَّادِقِینَ [And (as for) those who accuse their wives and have no witnesses except themselves, the evidence of one of these (should be taken) four times, bearing Allah to witness that he is most surely of the truthful ones] (meaning: he must bear witness four times in the name of Allah) concerning the accusation he made against his wife [that he is among the truthful]. The Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him and his family) also said to his wife: "You too must bear witness four times in the name of Allah that your husband is among the liars, and on the fifth time, curse yourself." The woman likewise bore witness [four times] and on the fifth time said: "May the wrath of Allah be upon me if my husband is among the truthful in the accusation he has made against me." At that moment the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him and his family) said to the two of them: "Go, and [know that from now on] you will never be lawful to one another [and you can no longer marry each other]." Uwaymir said: "O Messenger of Allah, what about the mahr I have given her?" The Prophet (peace be upon him and his family) said to him: "If you have spoken the truth [in this matter], that mahr is her right because you have had intercourse with her; and if you have lied, that wealth is even further from you than that." And he separated the two of them.

Ali ibn Ibrahim: وَ الَّذِینَ یَرْمُونَ أَزْواجَهُمْ وَ لَمْ یَکُنْ لَهُمْ شُهَداءُ إِلَّا أَنْفُسُهُمْ فَشَهادَةُ أَحَدِهِمْ أَرْبَعُ شَهاداتٍ بِاللهِ إِنَّهُ لَمِنَ الصَّادِقِینَ، وَ الْخامِسَةُ أَنَّ لَعْنَتَ اللهِ عَلَیْهِ إِنْ کانَ مِنَ الْکاذِبینَ، وَ یَدْرَؤُا عَنْهَا الْعَذابَ أَنْ تَشْهَدَ أَرْبَعَ شَهاداتٍ بِاللهِ إِنَّهُ لَمِنَ الْکاذِبینَ، وَ الْخامِسَةَ أَنَّ غَضَبَ اللهِ عَلَیْها إِنْ کانَ مِنَ الصَّادِقین [And those who accuse their wives and have no witnesses except themselves — the testimony of one of them is four testimonies by Allah that he is indeed of the truthful, and the fifth that the curse of Allah be upon him if he is of the liars; and it averts the punishment from her that she testify four testimonies by Allah that he is indeed of the liars, and the fifth that the wrath of Allah be upon her if he is of the truthful]. These verses were revealed concerning li'an (mutual imprecation), and the occasion of their revelation was this: when the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him and his family) returned from the Battle of Tabuk, Uwaymir ibn Sa'ida al-'Ajlani, who was one of the Ansar, came to him and said, "O Messenger of Allah! My wife has committed adultery with Sharik ibn Samha', and she is now pregnant by him." The Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him and his family) turned away from him; Uwaymir repeated his statement, and the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him and his family) turned away from him again, until Uwaymir repeated this four times. The Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him and his family) went into his house, and at that moment the verse of li'an was revealed to him. The Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him and his family) came out of his house and led the 'Asr prayer in congregation, and [after the prayer] said to Uwaymir, "Bring your wife to me, for Allah has revealed a verse concerning both of you." Uwaymir went to his wife and said to her, "The Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him and his family) is summoning you." His wife, who was a woman of standing, came accompanied by a group of her people. When she entered the mosque, the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him and his family) said to Uwaymir, "Come near the pulpit and invoke curses upon each other." Uwaymir said, "How shall I invoke the curse?" He said, "Come forward and say: I bear witness by Allah that concerning the accusation I have made against my wife I am indeed of the truthful." Uwaymir came forward and uttered this statement. The Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him and his family) said, "Repeat this statement." So he repeated it. Again he said, "Repeat it," until he had repeated it four times, and on the fifth time he said, "The curse of Allah be upon you if you are of the liars in the accusation you make against your wife." Uwaymir on the fifth time said, "The curse of Allah be upon him if he is of the liars in the accusation he makes against his wife." Then he (peace be upon him and his family) said, "[Beware, for] the curse is a prayer that is answered; if you are lying, it will seize you." Then he said to him, "Stand aside!" and he said to his wife, "Bear witness as he has borne witness, otherwise I will carry out upon you the penalty of Allah." The woman looked at the faces of her people and tribe and said, "I will not blacken these faces this evening." So she came near the pulpit and said, "I bear witness by Allah that Uwaymir ibn Sa'ida is of the liars in the accusation he has made against me." The Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him and his family) said, "Repeat this statement." So she repeated it, until she had repeated it four times. The Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him and his family) said, "On the fifth time invoke a curse upon yourself if Uwaymir is of the truthful in the accusation he has made against you." So on the fifth time she said, "The wrath of Allah be upon me if my husband is of the truthful in the accusation he has made against me." The Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him and his family) said, "Woe to you! The curse is a prayer that is answered." Then he said to her husband, "This woman is never again lawful to you." Uwaymir said, "What of the property I gave her [as her dowry]?" He said, "If you have lied [in this matter], then that property is even further from you than she herself is; and if you have spoken the truth, then that property is her right, because you have had intercourse with her." Then the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him and his family) said, "If this woman gives birth to a child whose shins are thin and slender, whose eyes are large, and whose hair is tightly curled, then he is the offspring of that foul deed; and if she gives birth to a child with light-coloured eyes and reddish-blond hair, then he belongs to his father (Uwaymir)."

Ibn Abbas: Ibn Abbas said: Sa'd ibn Ubadah said, "O Messenger of Allah, if I enter a house and see a man between my wife's thighs, am I not to make any noise until I go and bring four witnesses? By Allah, by the time I go and bring four men, that man will have finished his business and left. And if I report it, I will receive eighty lashes on my back." The Messenger said, "O company of the Ansar, do you not hear what Sa'd is saying?" They said, "O Messenger of Allah, do not blame Sa'd, for he is a man of intense honour; he has only ever married virgins, and he has never divorced a woman, lest any of us should dare marry a woman he had divorced." Sa'd said, "O Messenger of Allah, may my father and mother be ransomed for you. I know this is the ruling of Allah, and it is a true and right ruling. But my astonishment at this ruling is because of the very difficulty I have put before you." The Messenger said, "Allah has willed nothing other than this." Sa'd said, "Allah and His Messenger speak truly." Not long after, Sa'd's cousin, named Hilal ibn Umayyah, came from his garden, having seen a man with his wife. When morning came, he went to the Messenger of Allah and said, "I came home in the evening and found a man with my wife. I saw it with my own two eyes and heard it with my own two ears." The Messenger of Allah was greatly displeased, to the point that the displeasure was visible on his face. Hilal said, "I see that you have become displeased. By Allah, I am telling the truth, and I hope Allah will bring about a relief." The Messenger of Allah was about to strike him. The Ansar gathered and said, "We have been afflicted with the very thing Sa'd was speaking of yesterday. Is Hilal to be lashed and his testimony rendered void?" Then revelation descended, and the moment revelation came down they fell silent. Allah the Exalted revealed these verses: وَ الَّذِینَ یَرْمُونَ أَزْواجَهُمْ [And those who accuse their wives]. The Messenger of Allah said, "O Hilal, glad tidings to you, for Allah has opened a relief." Hilal said, "I was indeed hoping for relief and an opening from Allah." The Messenger said, "Bring Hilal's wife here." Then the Messenger of Allah carried out mula'ana (mutual imprecation) between this husband and wife. When the li'an (imprecation) was complete, he separated the two and ruled that the child belonged to the woman, without any specified father, and that people were not to attribute the woman's child to any evil. Then he said, "If she brings forth [a child] of such-and-such [description], it belongs to her husband, and if she brings forth [a child] of such-and-such [description], it belongs to the one about whom these things were said."

Imam Sadiq (peace be upon him): Imam Sadiq (peace be upon him) was asked about the verse: وَ الَّذِینَ یَرْمُونَ أَزْواجَهُمْ وَ لَمْ یَکُنْ لَهُمْ شُهَداءُ إِلَّا أَنْفُسُهُمْ [And those who accuse their wives and have no witnesses except themselves]. The Imam said: "It refers to the one who accuses his wife of zina (adultery). Whenever he accuses her of zina and then confesses that he has slandered his wife, he will receive eighty lashes and his wife will be returned to him (that is, they are not separated). But if he is not satisfied with anything except that his testimony be accepted, he must testify four times against that woman by the name of Allah that [in this accusation of zina] he is of the truthful, and on the fifth time he invokes a curse upon himself if he is of the liars. And if the woman wishes to ward off from herself the punishment — which here is stoning — she must testify four times by the name of Allah that her husband is of the liars, and on the fifth time [she says] the wrath of Allah be upon her if her husband is of the truthful. If the woman does not do this she will be stoned, and if she does it she has warded off the punishment from herself, and she will never be lawful to that man until the Day of Resurrection." I said: "In your view, if this woman and man are separated and the woman has a child who dies [will the woman inherit from him]?" The Imam (peace be upon him) said: "His mother inherits from him, and if his mother [also] dies the maternal uncles of that child will inherit from that child, and if anyone says: that child is born of zina, he will receive eighty lashes." I said: "If that man [after the li‘an has been carried out] acknowledges this child, is the child returned to him?" He said: "No, and there is no honour [either] between them, and the man does not inherit from him, but that child will inherit from the father."

Imam Sadiq (peace be upon him): A Muslim man, if he accuses his [temporary] dhimmi wife of zina, performs li‘an with her, and this ruling is according to the apparent meaning of the Book of Allah the Mighty and Majestic, for He says: وَ الَّذِینَ یَرْمُونَ أَزْواجَهُمْ [And those who accuse their wives], and this dhimmi woman is [also] his wife.

Imam Ali (peace be upon him): Between five groups of women and their husbands there is no ruling of mula‘ana (mutual imprecation): a Jewish woman whose husband is Muslim, a Christian woman and a bondwoman whose husbands are Muslim and free and accuse them of zina, a free woman who is the wife of a slave and the slave accuses his wife of zina, a man upon whom the hadd of lashes has previously been carried out for slandering another — about whom Allah the Mighty and Majestic says: وَ لا تَقْبَلُوا لَهُمْ شَهادَةً أَبَداً [And do not accept any testimony from them ever], and a mute woman, between whom and her husband li‘an is likewise not carried out, since li‘an is only by the tongue.

Imam Sadiq (peace be upon him): If a man accuses his wife who is mute of zina, separation takes place between the two of them.

Imam Baqir (peace be upon him): Li‘an between husband and wife and ila' (oath of abstention) do not take place except after [the occurrence of] sexual intercourse.

Imam Baqir (peace be upon him): Li'an does not take place except by denying the child (that is, the man says this child is not mine). If a man accuses his wife of adultery, he must perform li'an with her.

Imam Sadiq (peace be upon him): Li'an does not take place until the man has consummated marriage with his wife, and li'an does not occur except by denying the child — the man says: this child is not mine.

Imam Ali (peace be upon him): Whoever accuses his wife of adultery — there is no li'an between the two of them unless the man claims that he saw it with his own eyes and says: I saw a man between my wife's legs committing adultery with her.

Imam Sadiq (peace be upon him): Halabi said: I asked Imam Sadiq (peace be upon him) about the woman of li'an (mula'ana), whose husband accuses her and denies her child, and performs li'an with her, and afterwards the husband says: "The child belongs to me," and thus declares himself a liar. The Imam (peace be upon him) said: "As for the woman, she never returns to him; and as for the child, since he now claims that his lineage is valid, I return the child to him, and I do not leave his son in a state where he has no inheritance from him — the son inherits from the father, but the father does not inherit from the son; rather his inheritance goes to his maternal uncles. And if anyone calls him a child of adultery, the hadd (prescribed punishment) for false accusation is carried out against him."

Imam Baqir (peace be upon him): Zurara narrated from Imam Baqir (peace be upon him) regarding four people who bore witness against a woman of adultery, one of whom was her husband, that the Imam (peace be upon him) said: "That man performs li'an [with his wife] and the remaining witnesses receive [eighty] lashes."

Imam Sadiq (peace be upon him): Jamil ibn Darraj said: I asked Imam Sadiq (peace be upon him): "Does li'an (mutual imprecation) take place between a free man and his slave-woman?" The Imam (peace be upon him) said: "Yes, and likewise between a male slave and a free woman, and between a male slave and a female slave [who have married each other], and between a Muslim man and a Jewish or Christian woman [who have contracted a temporary marriage] li'an takes place, and [in these cases] the husband and wife do not inherit from one another, and the free man and the slave-woman [who are the subject of the question] do not inherit from one another."

Fiqh al-Rida: Li'an is when a man accuses his wife of fornication and denies the attribution of her child to himself. So if he brings four just witnesses against the woman, she is stoned; and if he does not establish evidence against her, he performs li'an (mutual imprecation) with her; and if he refuses the li'an, he is given eighty lashes as the hadd (prescribed punishment) for qadhf (slanderous accusation); and if he performs li'an with her, the hadd is lifted from him. And the li'an takes this form: the man stands facing the qibla and swears four times by the name "Allah" that he is truthful in what he has accused the woman of. Then the Imam says to him: "Fear Allah, for the curse of Allah is severe." Then the man says: "The curse of Allah be upon him, if he be among the liars in what he has attributed to the woman." Then the woman stands facing the qibla and swears four times by the name "Allah" that the man is a liar in the accusation he has made against her. Then the Imam says to her: "Fear Allah, for the wrath of Allah is severe." Then the woman says: "The wrath of Allah be upon her if the man be truthful in the accusation he has made against her." Then the Imam separates them, and the woman becomes forever forbidden to the man, and they do not inherit from one another — neither does the husband inherit from the wife, nor the wife from the husband, nor the father from the son. So if anyone calls this woman's child a child of fornication, he is lashed as the hadd; and if the man, after the mula'ana, claims that the child is his, the child is joined and ascribed to him.

Imam Sadiq (peace be upon him): Abd al-Rahman ibn al-Hajjaj said: "Abbad al-Basri asked Imam Sadiq (peace be upon him): 'How does a man perform li'an (mutual cursing) with his wife?' The Imam (peace be upon him) said: 'A man from among the Muslims came to the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him and his family) and said: "O Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him and his family), tell me, if a man goes to his house and sees another man having intercourse with his wife, what should he do about the two of them?"' Imam Sadiq (peace be upon him) said: 'The Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him and his family) turned away upon hearing these words, and the man left; and that man himself was the one who had been afflicted with this trial from his wife.' He said: 'Revelation came down from Allah the Mighty and Majestic with the ruling concerning them both, and the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him and his family) sent someone to that man and summoned him and asked: "Are you the one who saw such a situation with your wife?" He said: "Yes." He said: "Go and bring your wife to me, for indeed Allah the Mighty and Majestic has sent down the ruling concerning you and her." The man brought his wife, and the Prophet had the woman detained and said to the man: "Swear four times by Allah that you are truthful in what you have accused this woman of." The man bore witness. Then the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him and his family) said: "Hold on," and admonished him, saying: "O man, fear Allah, for the curse of Allah is very severe." Then he said: "Testify for the fifth time and say: The curse of Allah be upon me if I am among the liars." The man performed the fifth testimony as he had been instructed. The Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him and his family) ordered him to be taken aside, then turned to the woman and said: "You too, swear four times by the majestic name of Allah that your husband is among the liars in what he has accused you of." The woman carried out the testimony.' Then he said to her: 'Hold back,' and admonished her: 'Fear Allah, for the wrath and anger of Allah is severe.' Then he said: 'Perform the fifth testimony thus, and say: The wrath of Allah be upon me if my husband is among the truthful in what he accuses me of.' The woman bore witness, and then the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him and his family) separated the two of them. And he said: 'The two of you can never marry each other after this li'an.'"

Imam Jawad (peace be upon him): Muhammad ibn Sulayman said: I asked Imam Jawad (peace be upon him): "Why is it that when a man accuses (qadhf) his wife, he must bear witness four times, but if someone other than the husband makes this accusation, he is subjected to the hadd (prescribed punishment), even if he is the father or brother of that woman?" The Imam (peace be upon him) said: "The same question was put to Imam Sadiq (peace be upon him)." He replied: "The reason is that when a husband accuses his wife of a shameful act and makes this accusation, he is asked: How did you know that your wife committed indecency? If he says: I saw it from her with my own eyes, then he is required to call Allah as witness four times and give testimony to this meaning. And the reason why he is able to say I saw this act from her with my own eyes is that it is permitted for the husband to enter into private places which others have no right to enter, and to keep his wife under observation, whereas this is not permitted to anyone else — not even the woman's son or father — neither by night nor by day. Therefore, when he claims to have seen it with his own eyes, he must call Allah as witness upon it four times and swear by His Essence. But if he says: I did not see this with my own eyes, in this case he is regarded as a slanderer (qadhif) and accordingly the hadd is applied to him, unless he produces just witnesses. And if someone other than the husband makes this accusation and claims that he saw the said act from the woman, he is told: How did you see it, and how did you keep her under observation in private, when in your seeing you yourself are suspect? So if you are truthful, you still stand under suspicion, and it is unavoidable that you be disciplined [with the hadd]. And as for why the husband must swear four times, the reason is that each oath is counted in place of one just witness."

Imam Kazim (peace be upon him): Ali ibn Ja'far said: I asked my brother Imam Kazim (peace be upon him) about a man: "He performed li'an with his wife and swore four testimonies in the name of Allah, and on the fifth [testimony] he refused." The Imam (peace be upon him) said: "If the man refuses on the fifth [testimony], that woman [still] remains his wife, and he is given [eighty] lashes [for this accusation]; and if the woman refuses to testify when the oath [from the husband] has been given against her, then the woman will be lashed." I also asked Imam Kazim (peace be upon him) about li'an: "Does he perform li'an standing or sitting?" The Imam (peace be upon him) said: "Li'an, and things like it [such as giving testimony], are performed standing."