Zina (Arabic)
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Zina (زنا) is an Arabic term for Extramarital sex.
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[edit] Definition
Islamic law prescribes severe punishments for men and women for the act of Zina. Extramarital sexual intercourse may be punished by up to 100 lashes, while adultery is punished by Rajm (stoning), according to some interpretations of the Islamic law. Punishment by stoning is not specified in the Quran for any crime, and is based solely upon hadith.
Sayyid Abul Ala Maududi describes the following conditions traditionally held for the punishment to take place:
- The accused, before the accusation, must be known as a practising Muslim.
- The accused must possess common sense. The accused must not have been in an intoxicated state of mind while the act was committed.
- The accused must be an adult having well surpassed the age of puberty.
- The accused must have committed adultery of his/her own free will.
- There must be four witnesses (or pieces of evidence) to support the accusation (of sexual penetration).
Additional fulfillment of the following requirements is necessary for an execution:
- The accused must be free and not a slave.
- The accused must be married (according to Islamic Law), and must enjoy normal sexual relations with his/her spouse (and therefore have a legitimate means of satisfying his/her sexual desires) prior to committing adultery.
- The accused (woman) must not be pregnant or be responsible for breast feeding a child.
[edit] Qur'an
Islam has forbidden fornication, and regards it as the worst of the forbidden acts. Qur'an:
- And do not go nigh to fornication. Surely, it is an indecency and evil is the way.
Moreover, the Qur'an considers fornication as polytheism and murder:
- And they who do not call upon another god but Allah and do not slay the soul, which Allah has forbidden except in the requirements of justice, and who do not commit fornication. And he who does this shall find a requital of sin. The punishment shall be doubled to him on the day of resurrection. And he shall abide therein in abasement.
[edit] Interpretations
The punishment for adultery by stoning is quite controversial. Many fundamentalist organizations call for a more modern interpretation, whilst others argue that stoning has not once been mentioned in the Quran, and is evident only from the hadith. <ref> Maududi (2002)</ref>
Javed Ahmed Ghamidi, a well-known Pakistani Islamic scholar, believes that stoning is part of the punishment for maleficence in the land, as mentioned in verses 5:33-34 and that it was only for the those who used to habitually commit fornication as prostitutes. <ref>Javed Ahmed Ghamidi, Mizan, Chapter:The Penal Law of Islam, Al-Mawrid. [1]</ref> As in the following Hadith:
| “ | Acquire it from me, acquire it from me. The Almighty has revealed the directive about women who habitually commit fornication about which He had promised to reveal. If such criminals are unmarried or are the unsophisticated youth, then their punishment is a hundred stripes and exile and if they are widowers or are married, then their punishment is a hundred stripes and death by stoning. | „ |
| —Sahih Muslim, 1690 | ||
The former regulations (i.e. the steps taken for the punishment to occur) also make some Muslims believe, that the process' goal was to eventually abolish the physical penalties relating to acts of (fornication and) adultery, that were already present within many societies around the world when Islamic teachings first arose. According to this view, the principles are so rigorous in their search for evidence, that they create the near impossibility of being able to reach a verdict that goes against the suspect in any manner. [2]
[edit] Hadith
There are many hadith that outline capital punishment as a penalty for adultery, including two of the following:
- Imran b. Husain reported that a woman from Juhaina came to the Prophet Muhammad and she had become pregnant because of adultery. She said: I am pregnant as a result of Zina. Allah's Apostle said: "Go back, and come to me after the birth of the child". After giving birth, the woman came back to Allah's Apostle, saying: "please purify me now". Next, Allah's Apostle said, "Go and suckle your child, and come after the period of suckling is over." She came after the period of weaning and brought a piece of bread with her. She fed the child the piece of bread and said, "Oh Allah's Apostle, the child has been weaned." At that Allah's Apostle pronounced judgment about her and she was stoned to death.
- Reported by many companions that Ma'iz went before the Prophet Muhammad in the Mosque and said, "I have committed adultery, please purify me." Allah's Apostle turned his face away from him and said "Woe to you, go back and pray to Allah for forgiveness." But the boy again came in front of Allah's Apostle and repeated his desire for purification. The act was repeated three times, until Abu Bakr, sitting close by, told the Ma'iz to leave, as the fourth repetition of the plea would get him stoned. But the man persisted. Allah's Apostle then turned to him and said "you might have kissed or caressed her or you might have looked at her with lust (and so assumed that you committed Zina)". Ma'iz replied in the negative. Allah's Apostle said "did you lie in bed with her?" Ma'iz replied in the affirmative. He then asked, "did you have sexual intercourse?" Ma'iz replied in the affirmative. Then Allah's Apostle got quite uncomfortable, and asked "Did your male organ disappear in the female part?" Ma'iz replied in the affirmative. He then asked, once more, whether Ma'iz knew what Zina means. Ma'iz replied "yes, I have committed the same act a husband commits with his wife." Allah's Apostle asked if he was married, and he replied "yes". Allah's Apostle asked if he took any wine, and Ma'iz again replied in the negative. Allah's Apostle then sent for an inquiry from the neighbors of Ma'iz, whether or not Ma'iz suffered from insanity. The replies all came in the negative. Allah's Apostle then said, "had you kept it a secret, it would have been better for you." Allah's Apostle then ordered Ma'iz to be stoned to death. During the stoning, Ma'iz cried out, "O people, take me back to the Holy Prophet, the people of my clan deluded me." When this was reported to Allah's Apostle, he replied "Why did you not let him off, he might have repented, and Allah may have accepted it."
For more examples, see Stoning to Death in the Hadith. In all traditions, stoning only occurred after one of the adulterers voluntary came to Muhammad and bore witness against him or herself.
[edit] Notes
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[edit] References
- Sayyid Abul Ala Maududi (2002). The Meaning of the Quran. Islamic Publications (PVT.) LTD.
