RENAISSANCE MAY 2019

Qur’ ā nic Exegesis 7 Monthly Renaissance May 2019 َ ٰ نۡ ﻛﻨۡﺘﻢۡ ﺗﺆۡﻣﻨﻮۡن ﷲ ﴿ َFۡG ﻔَﺔٌ ﻣﻦَ ﻟۡﻤﺆۡﻣﻨ I وَ ﻟۡﻴَﺸۡﻬَﺪۡ ﻋَﺬ َﺑَﻬﻤَﺎﻃَﺂ N Oٰ ٰ وَ ﻟۡﻴَﻮۡم ﻵۡﻹ ﺑﺎﷲ ٢﴾ implementation of] this law of God any feeling of sympathy with them should not arise in you if you in reality believe in God and in the Hereafter. 6 And at the time of their punishment a group of governed by God, adultery was regarded as an offence of the category of waging war against God. If the woman was a virgin, a concession was given in punishment and it was made incumbment on the man to pay a penalty for it and keep that women as his wife for the rest of his life. (See: Deuteronomy, 22:23-29). As the institution of prophethood was to be terminated on Mu ḥ ammad (sws), and since the situation was to be changed, hence the law was changed. Thus initially it was said that the criminals of this offence were to be given physical punishment without determining its extent and nature. This directive is stated in verse 16 of S ū rah al-Nis ā ’. After this, the punishment of a hundred lashes was fixed as an eternal law of God. This is an extreme punishment for this offence. The reason for this is that adjectives are used in the Qur’ ā n in stating this punishment, which express the ultimate nature of the act. Hence this punishment is to be given only when the crime has been committed in its ultimate form and the criminal does not deserve any lenience as far as the circumstances of the crime are concerned. Consequently, criminals who are foolish, insane, have been compelled by circumstances, are without the necessary protection required to abstain from committing a crime, or cannot bear the punishment are all exempt from this punishment. About the women whom their masters force to take to prostitution, the Qur’ ā n (24:33) clearly says that God is Forgiving and Merciful to them, they being compelled to it. Similarly, about the slave women who were present in the Prophet’s times, the Qur’ ā n (4:25) says that they also cannot be administered this punishment because of improper upbringing and education and because of a lack of family protection – so much so that if their husbands and masters have done all they can to keep them chaste and in spite of this they commit the crime, they shall be given only half this punishment ie. fifty lashes instead of a hundred. 6. This harsh treatment given to the criminal is necessary because the stability of a society relies on the sanctity of the relationships in a family and on their protection from every type of disorder. Fornication, a little deliberation shows, makes a society unstable and turns it into a herd of animals. It, therefore, deprives a society of its well-being and prosperity. Writes Im ā m Am ī n A ḥ san I ṣ l āḥī in his celebrated commentary of the Qur’ ā n: … Ie. no lenience should be shown in the implementation of this