A Surah which We have bestowed from on high and which We have ordained; and in it have We bestowed from on high clear revelations, so that you may keep them in mind.
As for the adulteress and the adulterer, flog each of them with a hundred stripes, and let not compassion for them keep you from [carrying out] this law of God, if you truly believe in God and the Last Day; and let a number of believers witness their punishment.
The adulterer couples with none other than an adulteress or an idolatress; and with the adulteress couples none other than an adulterer or an idolater. This is forbidden to the believers.Light, Al-Noor: 24: 1-3)
The surah has a unique opening that is not repeated anywhere else in the Qur’an. What is special here is the use of the clause “We have ordained” in reference to this surah. We take this clause to imply an emphatic assertion that people must take everything that the surah includes in the same way. Social manners and morality are ordained in the same way as mandatory punishments. We need to remember here that such manners and morality are deeply rooted in human nature, but people tend to overlook them because of deviant social pressures and easy temptation. Hence, the clear divine revelations God has bestowed from on high puts them back before people’s eyes, explaining the clear logic of undistorted human nature.
This emphatic and clear opening is immediately followed with an explanation of the mandatory punishment for adultery, a ghastly crime that severs the ties between its perpetrator and the Muslim community. “As for the adulteress and the adulterer, flog each of them with a hundred stripes, and let not compassion for them keep you from (carrying out) this law of God, if you truly believe in God and the Last Day; and let a number of believers witness their punishment. The adulterer couples with none other than an adulteress or an idolatress; and with the adulteress couples none other than an adulterer or an idolater. This is forbidden to the believers.”
In the early days of Islam, the punishment prescribed for adulterers was that outlined in Surah 4, Women, which says: “As for those of your women who are guilty of gross immoral conduct, call upon four from among you to bear witness against them. If they so testify, then confine the guilty women to their houses until death takes them or God opens another way for them.” (4: 15) Thus the punishment for the guilty adulteress was confinement at home and verbal reprimand, while the adulterer was punished by verbal reprimand only. Sometime later, God revealed the new mandatory punishment in this surah. This is then the “way” opened by God to which Surah 4 had alluded.
Flogging is the punishment of men and woman adulterers who have not been empowered through marriage. This punishment is enforced on any Muslim who is sane, of age and a free person whose guilt is established. As for a person who has had sexual experience within a proper marriage and then commits adultery even though he is sane, of age and free, his punishment is stoning.
The stoning punishment is confirmed in the Sunnah, while the flogging punishment is established clearly in the Qur’an. Since the Qur’anic statement is phrased in general terms, and the Prophet inflicted the stoning punishment on a married man and a married woman who committed adultery, it is clear that the punishment of flogging applies only to adulterers who are unmarried.
There are several juristic differences in this area, such as a difference on combining the two punishments of flogging and stoning for a married adulterer. Most scholars, however, agree that no such combination applies. Other points of difference include sending unmarried adulterers into exile in addition to the punishment by flogging, and the punishment for a slave adulterer. These juristic differences are very detailed, but we do not propose to speak about such differences. Readers who are interested in them may refer to books on Fiqh. We will confine ourselves here to the discussion of the wisdom of this piece of legislation.
The first point to note is the difference in the punishment incurred by adulterers, depending on their marital status. A Muslim who is of age, free and sane and who has already experienced sex within marriage is fully aware of the clean and proper way to satisfy the sexual desire. To abandon this and resort to adultery betrays a deviant and corrupt nature. Hence, punishment is increased in this case. A virgin on the other hand may feel the temptation so strongly when he is inexperienced. There is another difference in the nature of the act itself. A married person is able to enjoy sex in a much better and refined way than a virgin. Hence, he deserves an increased punishment. As has already been mentioned, the surah mentions here the mandatory punishment for the unmarried adulterer only. It emphasizes the requirement of putting it into effect, with no compassion shown to the perpetrators: “As for the adulteress and the adulterer, flog each of them with a hundred stripes, and let not compassion for them keep you from (carrying out) this law of God, if you truly believe in God and the Last Day; and let a number of believers witness their punishment.” The Muslim community is required to implement this punishment showing no sympathy with the offenders. The punishment should be administered in public where a number of believers should be present. This makes it harder for the offenders and increases the deterrent effect for the beholders.
The crime is shown to be increasingly heinous. Hence, all ties between the perpetrators and the Muslim community are cut off: “The adulterer couples with none other than an adulteress or an idolatress; and with the adulteress couples none other than an adulterer or an idolater. This is forbidden to the believers.”
This means that those who commit adultery do not do so while they are believers. They only commit it when they are in a state that is far removed from faith and the feelings it generates in people’s hearts. A believer does not feel comfortable to enter into a marital relationship with someone who has abandoned faith through such a terrible offense. Indeed Imam Ahmad is of the view that marriage is forbidden between an adulterer and a chaste woman, or between a chaste man and an adulteress. A prerequisite for such a marriage to be valid is for such offenders to genuinely repent. At any rate, the Qur’anic verse makes it clear that by nature believing men and women feel that to be married to someone who commits adultery is strongly repugnant. Thus, it is very unlikely to happen, and this improbability is described here as a prohibition. Thus, ties between the Muslim community and individuals who commit adultery are non-existent.
