Opinion: Contextualising the crimes of illicit sexual affair, rape

Zinā is the technical term for any act of illicit sexual affair in the Sharī’ah. Literally, it connotes the act of casting lustful gaze at the opposite gender, engaging in dirty and flirtatious talks, listening, touching and making such moves that are aimed at gratification of the carnal desires.

Muslim reported on the authority of Abū Hurayrah that the Messenger of Allāh ﷺ said:

إِنَّ اللَّهَ كَتَبَ عَلَى ابْنِ آدَمَ حَظَّهُ مِنَ الزِّنَا، أَدْرَكَ ذَلِكَ لاَ مَحَالَةَ ، فَزِنَا العَيْنِ النَّظَرُ، وَزِنَا اللِّسَانِ المَنْطِقُ ، وَالنَّفْسُ تَمَنَّى وَتَشْتَهِي ، وَالفَرْجُ يُصَدِّقُ ذَلِكَ كُلَّهُ وَيُكَذِّبُهُ

“Verily, Allāh has decreed for every son of Ādam his share of Zinā, which he will inevitably commit. The Zinā of the eyes is looking; the Zinā of the tongue is speaking; the soul may wish and desire, and the private parts confirm that (engage in it) or deny it (refrain).”

This hadīth confirms that every human being is guilty of the crime of Zinā in the literal sense, since everyone falls into it at some point, advertently or inadvertently. However, one may NOT be referred to as Zānī (adulterer/fornicator) or Zāniyah (adulteress/fornicatoress) unless he or she engages in the physical act of intercourse.

The punishment for Zinā in Islām depends on marital status of the individuals involved. For the SINGLE Zānī, it’s a PUBLIC floggin of a hundred strokes of cane, and banishment for the period of 1 year, while the MARRIED Zāni is to be stoned to DEATH. This is the consensus opinion of the scholars of the Ummah since the time of the Rasūl ﷺ till our present time. It is also the view of all the scholars whose opinions on matters of the Dīn matter.

فإذا كان الزاني حراً محصناً رُجم حتى الموت رجلاً كان أو امرأة ، وهو محل إجماع

“If the Zānī is a freeborn who is married, he is to be stoned to death, whether male or female. This is a matter of consensus.”

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Ibn Qudāmah رحمه الله said:

وأجمع عليه أصحاب محمد صلى الله عليه وسلم ، وعن أحمد رواية أنه يجلد ويرجم ، والمذهب الرجم فقط ، كما اتفق الفقهاء على أن الزاني غير المحصن رجلاً كان أو امرأة يجلد مائة جلدة إن كان حراً ، وأما العبد والأمة فحدهما خمسون جلدة سواء كانا بكرين أو ثيبين

“The Companions of the Prophet ﷺ all agreed on this issue. A report from Imām Ahmad states that such a Zānī be flogged a 100 times & then stoned to death. However, the position of the Hanābilah madh-hab is stoning to death only. The jurists are also unanimous that the unmarried Zānī, male or female is to be lashed a 100 times if he’s a freeborn. As for the slave male or female, the punishment is 50 lashes whether he/she is married.”

It is important to note that the hadd punishment mentioned above is APPLICABLE only to the traditional definition of Zinā as
إيلاج/ مَغِيبُ الحَشَفَةِ ,في فَرجٍ مُحَرَّمٍ
“penetration of the vagina (or anus) that is legally prohibited with the tip of the penis (whether or not ejaculation occurs).” That is, the perpetrator would be guilty of Zinā even if it was just the tip of his penis that had penetrated the forbidden hole.

Further explanations reveal that the act must neither be done under duress nor in ambiguous circumstances (شُبْهَة). Any other illicit sexual affair will carry the DISCRETIONARY punishments to be determined by the judge. Such includes touching, kissing, romancing, penetration of the mouth, the breasts, the hips, etc with the penis.

Furthermore, the Sharī’ah’s perspective of Zinā has NOTHING to do with CONSENT. What distinguishes Zinā from licit intercourse is VALID MARRIAGE, not CONSENT. This is also why the concept of MARITAL RAPE has NO BASIS in the Sharī’ah. Marriage validates sexual gratification among spouses. A woman may not refuse her husband sex without valid reasons of menstruation, postpartum bleeding, illness, obligatory fast, or injury. If he goes ahead and penetrates her forcefully, against her will, he’s a sinner but not a RAPIST in the context of the Sharī’ah.

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The crime of Zinā is established in the Sharī’ah through voluntary confession of the culprit(s), statements of FOUR credible witnesses, or (in modern times to some extent) through DNA tests. However, as Shaykh Wahbah Az-Zuhaylī puts it, “The DNA does not provide independent evidence in the sense of the court issuing a sentence solely on its basis, but it does provide supportive and persuasive evidence for a court decision.”

The reason for this skeptical approach to DNA results in establishing crimes is the fact that it may be fabricated, falsified and tampered with, just as its reliability may diminish with the lapse of time between the occurrence of the incident and its collection.

Concerning rape, the technical term for it in the Sharī’ah is الاغْتِصابُ. Literally, it means to take a thing by force. It is the worst form of Zinā because of its physical, mental and psychological effects on the victim. All the Scholars of Islām condemn the crime of rape in the harshest of terms. They are also unanimous in their opinion that a rapist is deemed a Zānī and would be punished according to his marital status (as stated above).

Imām Mālik رحمه الله in his Muwatta’ (2/734) said:

الأمر عندنا في الرجل يغتصب المرأة بكراً كانت أو ثيبا : أنها إن كانت حرة : فعليه صداق مثلها , وإن كانت أمَة : فعليه ما نقص من ثمنها ، والعقوبة في ذلك على المغتصب ، ولا عقوبة على المغتصبة في ذلك كله ” انتهى .

“Our position on the rapist who forcefully has carnal knowledge of a woman whether she’s single or married is that, if she’s a freeborn, he must pay her the dower of a woman of her status and if she’s a slave girl, he must pay the sum of what has diminished of her value. The punishment for the crime is on the rapist. The victim is not to be punished in such cases.”

Ibn ‘Abdilbarr in al-Istidhkār 7/146 further elaborates on the issue when he submitted thus:

وقد أجمع العلماء على أن على المستكرِه المغتصِب الحدَّ إن شهدت البينة عليه بما يوجب الحد ، أو أقر بذلك ، فإن لم يكن : فعليه العقوبة (يعني : إذا لم يثبت عليه حد الزنا لعدم اعترافه ، وعدم وجود أربعة شهود ، فإن الحاكم يعاقبه ويعزره العقوبة التي تردعه وأمثاله) ولا عقوبة عليها إذا صح أنه استكرهها وغلبها على نفسها ، وذلك يعلم بصراخها ، واستغاثتها ، وصياحها

“The scholars have all agreed the rapist shall be given the hadd punishment if credible proofs necessitating such punishment are established against him, or he confesses to committing it. In the absence of such proofs, the judge shall exercise his discretion in punishing him in a way that will deter him and others like him. The victim is not to be punished if it’s proven that he overpowered her and forced himself on her. Such can be known through her cry for help and shouts.”

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Protection of life and honour are fundamental aspects of the Cardinal Objectives of the Sharī’ah. It is for this reason that it has laid down strict procedures for the establishment of claims against one another. Bukhāri & Muslim reported on the authority of ibn Abbās that the Messenger of Allāh ﷺ said:

لَوْ يُعْطَى اَلنَّاسُ بِدَعْوَاهُمْ, لَادَّعَى نَاسٌ دِمَاءَ رِجَالٍ, وَأَمْوَالَهُمْ, وَلَكِنِ اَلْيَمِينُ عَلَى اَلْمُدَّعَى عَلَيْهِ

“If people were given whatever they claimed (in disputes), some people would claim the lives and wealth of others; but the oath (of denial) must be taken by the defendant.”

In the narration by Al-Bayhaqī:

اَلْبَيِّنَةُ عَلَى اَلْمُدَّعِي, وَالْيَمِينُ عَلَى مَنْ أَنْكَرَ

“The burden of proof lies on the claimant, and oath must be taken by the one rejecting the claim.”

Based on this hadīth, the crime of rape cannot be brought against anyone without CONCRETE proofs beyond any shadow of doubt. Crimes are to be proven before the judge in a court of competent jurisdiction and not on the social media. Where there are no concrete proofs establishing guilt of the accused, the judge may look into the circumstantial evidence and exercise his discretionary powers.

However, if the victim was able to prove that the rapist gagged her mouth and restrained her, or knocked her out by the aid of pills or gas, or threatened her life with dangerous weapons, such a RAPIST is considered a مُحارِبٌ and, depending on the degree of his culpability, the judge is expected to apply any of the injunctions in Q.5:33 based on his discretion:

إِنَّمَا جَزَاءُ الَّذِينَ يُحَارِبُونَ اللَّهَ وَرَسُولَهُ وَيَسْعَوْنَ فِي الأَرْضِ فَسَاداً أَنْ يُقَتَّلُوا أَوْ يُصَلَّبُوا أَوْ تُقَطَّعَ أَيْدِيهِمْ وَأَرْجُلُهُمْ مِنْ خِلافٍ أَوْ يُنْفَوْا مِنَ الأَرْضِ ذَلِكَ لَهُمْ خِزْيٌ فِي الدُّنْيَا وَلَهُمْ فِي الآخِرَةِ عَذَابٌ عَظِيمٌ

“The penalty of those who wage war against Allāh and His Messenger and seek corruption in the land is to be killed, or crucified, or to have their hands and feet cut on alternate sides, or to be banished from the land. That is their disgrace in this world, and in the Hereafter they shall have a great punishment.”

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In a situation (though rare) where the victim of rape is a male, scholars of Islām have differed on the appropriate ruling in this regard.

قال ابن قدامة
فَصْلٌ: وَإِنْ أُكْرِهَ الرَّجُلُ فَزَنَى، فَقَالَ أَصْحَابُنَا: عَلَيْهِ الْحَدُّ. وَبِهِ قَالَ مُحَمَّدُ بْنُ الْحَسَنِ، وَأَبُو ثَوْرٍ؛ لِأَنَّ الْوَطْءَ لَا يَكُونُ إلَّا بِالِانْتِشَارِ، وَالْإِكْرَاهُ يُنَافِيهِ. فَإِذَا وُجِدَ الِانْتِشَارُ انْتَفَى الْإِكْرَاهُ، فَيَلْزَمُهُ الْحَدُّ، كَمَا لَوْ أُكْرِهَ عَلَى غَيْرِ الزِّنَى، فَزَنَى.

Ibn Qudāmah رحمه الله notes:

“Chapter: If a man was forced to commit Zinā and he commits it, our companions (Hanābilah) said: he shall face the hadd punishment. This is the view of Muhammad bn Al-Hasan (Ash-Shaybānī) and Abū Thawr. This is because sex cannot occur without erection, and duress makes erection impossible. So if he has erection, it’s not treated as forced sex and as such he would be given the hadd punishment just as if he was forced to do something else and he commits Zinā.”

He continues:

وَقَالَ الشَّافِعِيُّ، وَابْنُ الْمُنْذِرِ: لَا حَدَّ عَلَيْهِ؛ لِعُمُومِ الْخَبَرِ، وَلِأَنَّ الْحُدُودَ تُدْرَأُ بِالشُّبُهَاتِ، وَالْإِكْرَاهُ شُبْهَةٌ، فَيَمْنَعُ الْحَدَّ، كَمَا لَوْ كَانَتْ امْرَأَةً، يُحَقِّقُهُ أَنَّ الْإِكْرَاهَ، إذَا كَانَ بِالتَّخْوِيفِ، أَوْ بِمَنْعِ مَا تَفُوتُ حَيَاتُهُ بِمَنْعِهِ، كَانَ الرَّجُلُ فِيهِ كَالْمَرْأَةِ، فَإِذَا لَمْ يَجِبْ عَلَيْهَا الْحَدُّ، لَمْ يَجِبْ عَلَيْهِ. وَقَوْلُهُمْ: إنَّ التَّخْوِيفَ يُنَافِي الِانْتِشَارَ. لَا يَصِحُّ؛ لِأَنَّ التَّخْوِيفَ بِتَرْكِ الْفِعْلِ، وَالْفِعْلُ لَا يُخَافُ مِنْهُ، فَلَا يَمْنَعُ ذَلِكَ. وَهَذَا أَصَحُّ الْأَقْوَالِ، إنْ شَاءَ اللَّهُ تَعَالَى.

“Ash-Shāfi’ī and ibn al-Mundhir said: he shall not face the hadd punishment, based on the general implication of the texts, and also because capital punishments are waived by ambiguities. Duress is a form of ambiguity and as such, hadd punishment shall not be applicable in such circumstances. This is the same ruling if the victim were a woman. If a man’s life was threatened, his case is similar to that of a woman penetrated by force. Both would not be punished. As for the statement of those who say, “threat to life makes erection impossible, this is not correct. This is the most sound of opinions.”

Nowadays, it is possible to force a man to have erection through admission of aphrodisiacs (injections, pills, or drinks). This further refutes the claim of those who say that duress makes erection impossible.

Finally, it is important to abide by the clear rules that Islām has laid down aimed at blocking all the means to evils. Our emphasis should not be on the sexual aspect of rape only, but on all forms of objectification and degradation of women’s status by artists and business owners through advertisement of goods and services.

Dr. Sanusi Lafiagi is a lecturer in Department of Islamic Studies, Al-Hikmah University Ilorin