Protecting societies from zina

 

How can four witnesses be brought against the man and woman who commit zina in the present age? 


How can we advise our Muslim youth against this evil action? May Allaah reward you with good.

Praise be to Allaah.

Firstly: 

The scholars have listed the ways of establishing proof of
zina, and there are four ways: 

1-   
Testimony of witnesses

2-   
Admission by the parties
concerned

3-   
Pregnancy of a woman who has no
husband or master

4-   
If the husband engages in
li’aan and the wife refuses to take part in li’aan 

With regard to witnesses to zina, they should be four people
whose testimony is acceptable, and they should state that they have seen the
zina in clear terms, i.e., they should have seen the man’s penis in the
woman’s vagina.  If some of them only testify that they saw them naked, or
they describe certain positions or movements, that is not sufficient to
proof that zina took place. 

Shaykh Ibn ‘Uthaymeen (may Allaah have mercy on him) said in
al-Sharh al-Mumti’ (6/157): 

They should describe zina in clear terms, such as saying: “I
saw his penis in her vagina”. There is no alternative to that. If they say:
“We saw him on top of her and they were naked”, that is not acceptable. Even
if they say “We saw him doing with her what a man does with his wife,” that
is not sufficient as testimony. They must say “We bear witness that his
penis was in her vagina.” And this is very difficult, as the man said who
was testified against at the time of ‘Umar: “If you were among the (four)
thighs you would never be able to give this testimony.” Hence Shaykh
al-Islam Ibn Taymiyah mentioned that at his time no case of zina was proven
by means of testimony from the time of the Prophet (peace and blessings
of Allaah be upon him) until the time of Ibn Taymiyah. If no case was proven
from that time until the other, then we do not know of any case that was
proven by testimony up till our own times, because it is very difficult. End
quote. 

This strictness with regard to testimony about zina serves
only to achieve the purpose aimed at by sharee’ah, which is to conceal
people and not spread immorality, and to make societies avoid accusations
against people’s honour and aspersions on their lineages. 

Al-Qurtubi (may Allaah have mercy on him) said in
al-Jaami’ li Ahkaam al-Qur’aan (5/83): 

Allaah has stated that testimony in a case of zina must be
given by four people, so as to make it hard for those who are testifying to
such a thing, and to conceal people. End quote. 

Shaykh ‘Abd al-Rahmaan al-Sa’di said in his Tafseer
(1/563): “Why did they not produce four witnesses?” [al-Noor 24:13],
i.e., why did the accusers not bring witnesses to the things they accused
them of? “four witnesses” i.e., of good character. “Since they
(the slanderers) have not produced witnesses! Then with Allaah they are the
liars” – even if they are certain about that in themselves, they are
liars in Allaah’s judgement, because Allaah has forbidden them to speak of
that without four witnesses. Hence Allaah says: “Then with Allaah they
are the liars”, and He did not say “Then they are the liars”. All of
this points to the grave sanctity of the Muslim’s honour, so it is not
permissible to make accusations against it without establishing testimony.
End quote. 

See also the answers to questions no.
839 and
6926. 

Secondly: 

With regard to protecting our youth and our societies against
this evil, it is essential that there be a concerted effort on the parts of
nations and societies, on various fronts. It is a communal responsibility,
not an individual one. It is not possible to attain the well being of
societies without integrated efforts to adopt the means that will protect
them against zina and its effects. These means include the following: 

1 – Spreading awareness of the seriousness of the sin of
zina, and that it is one of the major sins which common sense and sharee’ah
agree is abhorrent and haraam; explaining that it is the cause of nations’
downfall and that it brings calamities upon this world, and the punishment
of Hell on the Day of Resurrection. 

Imam Ahmad said: After murder, there is nothing worse than
zina. Ghadha’ al-Albaab (2/435). 

Allaah says (interpretation of the meaning): 

“And come not near to unlawful sex. Verily, it is a
Faahishah (i.e. anything that transgresses its limits: a great sin), and an
evil way (that leads one to hell unless Allaah forgives him)”

[al-Isra’ 17:32] 

Shaykh ‘Abd al-Rahmaan al-Sa’di said in his Tafseer
(1/457): 

Allaah describes zina and its evil as “a Faahishah (i.e.
anything that transgresses its limits: a great sin” i.e., a sin that is
abhorrent according to sharee’ah, common sense and sound human nature,
because it is a transgression against the rights of Allaah, the rights of
the woman, the rights of her family, and the rights of her husband, and it
is spreading immorality, confusing lineages and other evils. The phrase “and
an evil way” means it is an evil way for the one who dares to commit
this grave sin. End quote. 

Making the youth aware of the bad effects that result from
the spread of this evil, which threatens the stability of families and
societies, such as the spread of fatal diseases, the prevalence of
illegitimate children, disintegration of the family, children not being
cared for properly and having a bad upbringing, increase in the divorce
rate, spread of crime and so on. These effects are felt by the societies in
which permissiveness in its worst forms is widespread, which could lead to
disintegration of those societies and the downfall of those civilizations. 

3 – Striving to facilitate the shar’i way to have sexual
relationships, which is through halaal marriage, by encouraging marriage and
explaining that sharee’ah encourages it, and that it is the way of the
Messengers, and that the one who gets married has completed half of
religion, and that he will be rewarded for keeping himself and his wife
chaste. 

4 – One of society’s responsibilities in this matter is to
remove the obstacles that cause delays in getting married. So they should
address the poverty that may be an obstacle to marriage, and provide the
material means to young people who do not possess enough to keep themselves
chaste. In his commentary on the verse (interpretation of the meaning):
“And marry those among you who are single (i.e. a man who has no wife and
the woman who has no husband) and (also marry) the Saalihoon (pious, fit and
capable ones) of your (male) slaves and maid‑servants (female slaves). If
they be poor, Allaah will enrich them out of His Bounty. And Allaah is
All‑Sufficient for His creatures’ needs, All‑Knowing (about the state of the
people)” [al-Noor 24:32], al-Qurtubi said: Marry those among you who
have no spouse, for that is the way to achieve chastity. End quote
(12/239). 

In the book al-Amwaal by Abu ‘Ubayd al-Qaasim ibn
Salaam (251) it says that ‘Umar ibn ‘Abd al-‘Azeez wrote to his governor in
Iraq saying: Seek out every unmarried man who has no wealth and if he wants
to get married, then arrange his marriage and give charity to him. 

Ibn Qudaamah (may Allaah have mercy on him) said in
al-Mughni (7/587): 

A man must keep his son chaste if he needs to get married,
and this is the apparent meaning of the view of al-Shaafa’i. End quote. 

5 – The least that societies and parents can do with regard
to this important issue is to stop going to extremes with regard to dowries,
or showing off and indulging in excess with regard to the expenses of
marriage, or trying to acquire wealth from them. 

‘Umar ibn al-Khattaab delivered a speech from the minbar and
said:

“Do not go to extremes with regard to the dowries of women,
for if that were a sign of honour and dignity in this world or a sign of
piety before Allaah, then Muhammad (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon
him) would have done that before you. But he did not give any of his wives,
and none of his daughters were given, more than twelve uqiyah.”

Narrated by Abu Dawood (2106); classed as saheeh by
al-Albaani in Saheeh Abi Dawood. 

Wise people do not disagree on the point that parents’ going
to extremes with regard to their daughters’ dowries is one of the causes of
the spread of corruption and immorality in their societies. 

Will Durant said, speaking of the spread of immorality in
some western societies in some era of history in his book Mabaahij
al-Falsafah (The Pleasures of Philosophy) (127-128): 

There is no dispute that this is to some extent due to the
demands for high dowries made by fathers as the price for their chastity at
a time when marriage was, frankly, a commodity to be bought. End quote. 

6 – One of the most important means by which societies may
ward off the evil of zina is spreading an atmosphere of love between
spouses, and striving towards the happiness of families by means of love,
respect, sincerity, loyalty, rights and duties, for happy families and
loving couples are a means of protecting society from deviation and falling
into immorality in search of illusionary happiness. 

7 – Finally, it is essential to strive to establish a
conservative and religiously-committed environment which is connected to
Allaah, may He be glorified and exalted, in which wanton display and
unveiling are unknown, and in which ‘awrahs are covered, in which alcohol
and music, which are the promoters of zina, are forbidden, because these
things are the fuel for the fire of immorality, so if the society rids
itself of them, it will be safe from that fire. 

You may also benefit from reading the answers to the
following questions on this website: 20161 and
3234. 

Useful books on this subject include al-Tadaabeer
al-Waaqiyah min al-Zina by Fadl Ilaahi. 

And Allaah knows best.

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