The Holy Qor-aan 004:016
وَالّٰتِىۡ يَاۡتِيۡنَ الۡفَاحِشَةَ مِنۡ نِّسَآٮِٕكُمۡ فَاسۡتَشۡهِدُوۡا عَلَيۡهِنَّ اَرۡبَعَةً مِّنۡكُمۡ ۚ فَاِنۡ شَهِدُوۡا فَاَمۡسِكُوۡهُنَّ فِى الۡبُيُوۡتِ حَتّٰى يَتَوَفّٰٮهُنَّ الۡمَوۡتُ اَوۡ يَجۡعَلَ اللّٰهُ لَهُنَّ سَبِيۡلًا
Wul-laa-tee-yau-te-nul-faa-hay-sha-tay-min-nay-saa-aiy-koom Fus-tush-hay-do-aa-lay-hin-na-ur-ba-aa-ta-min-koom Fa-in-sha-hay-do-fum-say-koo-hoon-na-fil-bo-yoo-tay Hut-ta-ya-ta-wuf-fa-hoon-nul-mao-to-auo Yuj-aa-lul-laa-ho-la-hoon-na-sa-be-laa
And from among your women those who commit lewdness Then get evidence against them of four from you So if they testify, then restrict them in the homes Until the death reaches them or Allah makes for them a way out.
- وَ — Wa…(ul) And (= Conj., links words, phrases or clauses; additionally; but also; more over; though; when; while; yet; whereupon)
- ٱلَّتِى — Al-la-tee — Those women (= pl., f., 3rd person. Those women who. A/t/a ‘such,’ ‘for those’ and ‘any of’)
- يَاۡتِيۡنَ — Yau-tee-na(ul) — Commit (= v., pl., f., 3rd person. Appear; arrive; bring about; come with; commit; manifest; show)
- الۡفَاحِشَةَ — Faa-hay-sha-ta — Lewdness (= n., s., Abomination. Illegality. Immorality. Indecency. Inherently bad, evil, foul, immoral, improper, lewd, obscene, repulsive, shameful, sinful or unseemly act, conduct, deed, practice or thing. Open foul infraction. Sexual perversion. Violation. Wickedness Wickedness by doing in public view any of the above outrages. A/t/a, — ‘guilty of lewdness’ by A Yusuf Ali, M M Pickthall and M Sher Ali; — ‘guilty of any flagrant impropriety’ by M Ghulam Farid; — ‘guilty of unbecoming conduct’ by M Zafrulla Khan; — ‘guilty of an indecency’ by M Muhammad Ali; — ‘commit indecency’ by Ahmad Zidan; — ‘commit fornication’ by N J Dawood; — ‘commit sexual perversity’ by A Rahman Omar and A Manan Omar; and — ‘illegal sexual intercourse’ M Muhsin Khan and Taqi-ud-Din Al-Hilali )
- مِنۡ — Min — From (= Among, from or out of the class or category or several articles, counts, kind, things, persons or phenomenon)
- نِّسَآءِ — Nay-saa-aiy — Women (= n., Females of the mankind; ladies; women folk)
- كُمۡ — Koom — Your (= pro., pl., m & f., 2nd person. Yourselves. Generally this way the Holy Qor-aan addresses both men and women)
- فَ — Fa…(us) — Then (= Hence; so; thus; after all this; at the end; in conclusion; consequently; finally; thereafter; therefore)
- اسۡتَشۡهِدُوۡا — Us-tush-hay-do — Get evidence (= v., pl., 2nd person. Arrange, call, obtain, present, procure, provide, record or secure evidence, testimony or witnesses; gather intelligence, investigate. A/t/a, ‘call to witness,’ ‘call in,’ ‘call in … to witness,’ ‘confront’ and ‘take the evidence of’)
- عَلَيۡ — Alai — Against (= Above; before; during; for; on; upon)
- هِنَّ — Hin-na — Them — (= pro., pl., f., 3rd person. Refers to aforesaid women)
- اَرۡبَعَةً — Ur-ba-atun — Four (= The number four. A/t/a, ‘four witnesses’ and ‘four (Reliable) witnesses’)
- مِّنۡ — Min — From (= Among, from or out of many. See مِنۡ above)
- كُمۡ — Koom — You (= pro., pl., m & f., 2nd person. Yourselves. See كُمۡ above)
- فَ — Fa — Then (= Hence; so; thus; thereafter; therefore. See فَ above)
- اِنۡ — In — If (= In case; under the circumstances; when; whenever)
- شَهِدُوۡا — Sha-hay-do — Testify (= v., pl., 3rd person. Establish; prove; provide testimony. A/t/a, ‘bear witness,’ ‘testify to their guilt,’ ‘testify (to the truth of allegation)’ and ‘give evidence and prove the guilt’)
- فَ — Fa — Then (= Hence; so; thus ; thereafter; therefore. See فَ above)
- اَمۡسِكُو — Um-say-koo — Restrict (= v., pl., m & f., 2nd person. Hold back; Keep; restrain; withhold. A/t/a, ‘confine’)
- هُنَّ — Hoon-na — Them (= pl, f, in 3rd person. Refers to aforesaid women)
- فِى — F…(il) — In (= Amidst, contained or inside place)
- الۡبُيُوۡتِ Bo-yoo-tay — Homes (= n., pl., Domains; dwellings; houses; lodgings. ‘A/t/a, ‘their houses’ which is tantamount to a modern age ‘house arrest’)
- حَتّٰى — Hut-ta — Until (= By the end of the period or term; till the time)
- يَتَوَفّٰ — Ya-ta-wuf-fa — Reaches (= v., pres., s., 3rd person. Completes, concludes or fulfills a phase. Brings, causes, generates or induces death. Ends life. Makes the soul depart. Passes away. A/t/a ‘overtakes,’ ‘take them,’ ‘takes them away,’ ‘comes’ and ‘do claim’)
- هُنَّ — Hoon-na — They (= pl, f, in 3rd person. Refers to aforesaid women)
- الۡمَوۡتُ — (Ol)-mao-to — The death (= n., After life has ended; end of life on earth; stupor)
- اَوۡ — Auo — Or (= Alternatively; in substitution
- يَجۡعَلَ — Yuj-aa-la…(ul) — Makes (= v., pres., s., 3rd person. Appoints; brings out, causes, converts, creates; directs, grants, makes, places, renders, sets up; turns up; wills. See Note 002:031. A/t/a, ‘assign’ or ‘designs to assign’) . A/t/a, ‘ordains for,’ ‘God ordain,’ ‘opens,’ ‘makes,’ ‘finds’ and ‘appoint’)
- اللّٰهُ — Laa-ho — Allah (= The One and the Only One Almighty God)
- لَ — La — For (= Concerning; for the object, purpose or reason of; intended for; regarding; relative to)
- هُنَّ — Hoon-na — Them (= pl, f, in 3rd person. Refers to aforesaid women)
- سَبِيۡلًا — Sa-be-laa — Way out (= n., s., Action; alternative; cause, course; escape; line; means; measure; method; path; pretext; remedy; road; way. See Note 004:089 & Phrase fee-sa-be-lil-laa-hay. A/t/a, ‘another way,’ ‘some (other) way,’ ‘a way,’ ‘way out,’ and a ‘way (through new legislation)’ that this author pointed to verse 024:003 in his footnote)
**004:016. The Holy Qor-aan has prohibited several sexual activities as immoral and has prescribed punishments for them. Some of them are the following.
This verse 004:016 proscribes lewdness by women. The absence of details of such conduct has been used by various translators to verbalize their own imaginations. This site has chosen to defer defining such acts to the penal codes of a jurisdiction where they occur. The punishment for keeping them inside the homes ends when they die, or an appropriate way out becomes available.
Verse 004:016 prohibits lewdness by the two. The authors have translated the two as two men or a man and a woman. The punishment to inflict on them a hurt ends when they repent and amend and that obviously means to give them a second chance to reform themselves.
Verse 024:003 prohibits fornication by man or woman. The procedure to prove the guilt is laid down in several verses thereafter. Essential requirement is four witnesses who have to meet certain qualifications strictly. The husband of a woman can provide the aforesaid four testimonies when they are accompanied by a fifth one that invokes a curse on himself if a liar.
The standard required to prove the wrongs that entail punitive measures is indicated by telltale question Why did you not that is repeated four times in five verses 024:013 to 024:017.
Standard of Evidence
A well-known Hadeeth (a quotation of the Holy Prophet, s.a.w) illustrates how strictly the evidence must be construed. A man charged with adultery was produced before him.
The man confessed in front of the Prophet s.a.w who silently turned aside.
The man went around and confessed again and the Prophet s.a.w still did not respond but turned aside.
The man went around and confessed for the third time. The Prophet s.a.w still did not acknowledge and turned away. It is not reported if his silence really was in disgust.
The man went around and confessed for the fourth time. The man also named the woman with whom he had committed the adultery.
At that time the Prophet s.a.w spoke that he knew that the man was a truthful person and gave four testimonies against himself, proved his guilt and merited the prescribed punishment.
Hearing of the punishment the man ran off but people chased, caught and killed him. On hearing of that the Prophet s.a.w remarked that he should not have been chased or killed.
Then the woman who had been named by the man was summoned. When asked about the charge of adultery she flat out denied it. She was let go.
When asked the Prophet s.a.w remarked that he knew that the woman had lied but could not be convicted because the charges against her were not proved by four testimonies.
Though prohibited and penalized, the offence must be proved. The bar to prove the guilt is set pretty high. If required four truthful witnesses fail to testify, the punishment prescribed for the crime has to be inflicted on the less-than-four testifiers who had failed to prove the guilt.
Rationale
The requirement of four witnesses shows that the offence must have been committed and seen openly, publicly. The testimony by three honest and truthful witnesses is not enough, and they must be punished just like real perpetrator would have been if proven guilty. The standard upholds the rule of jurisprudence to let 99 culprits go free rather than convict an innocent person.
Islamic legal consequence of permissive lewdness appears harsh to people in the western culture where such conduct is openly permitted, promoted and practiced. But the silent majority of that very lifestyle and over 5 billion of the world population look down upon all abominations including the same-sex coupling, relationship or marriage. The rampant recognition of such acts goes by the window when any of their own women or young adults are found involved in them.
The Holy Qor-aan has stated what the Creator deemed fit and best in equipping mankind with the reproductive mechanism of sex for the sole purpose of procreation like all vertebras.
An intentional violation of natural and spousal sex has been criticized and condemned.
Such activity invariably corrupts and weakens the society in the human village and that’s why it has been decried and denounced.
