The punishment for adultery in Islamic law and its application in Nigeria

Abstract

The paper assesses the compatibility of the punishment of zina (adultery or fornication), with modern ideas concerning personal freedom, and in particular sexual freedom. From various verses of the Qur'an it is inferable that punishment for zina was at first a sort of tazir, i.e. deterrence and it became a “hadd,” i.e. fixed punishment later, with the form of fixed punishment varying according to the marital status of the culprit. This is agreed upon by all the Muslim jurists with the exception of the kharajite group of al-Azariqa, and some contemporary jurists, who denied that stoning to death was the punishment for married offenders claiming that stoning had been amended by the revelation of the Qur'an (24:2). The paper examines the argument of the advocates of the sterner punishment and the opposing views and holds that in a legal system in which all acts and relationships are measured by a scale of moral evaluation, it is natural to find such a deep concern for enforcing sexual morality. Thus, the desire to protect public morality and safeguard it against corruption by publicizing the offence is the reason for the method of proof to the offender's own confession or to the testimony of four adults who actually witness the act of sexual intercourse. The paper concludes with the view that the punishment prescribed for zina is for those who committed the crime openly with no consideration for the law or for the feeling of the community. Since contemporary Muslim societies do not adopt the Islamic way of life, it will be wrong therefore to punish for zina let alone to stone to death in a community where everything invites and encourages unlawful sexual relationships.

Keywords:

• “Hadd”
• zina
• tayyib
• rajm stoning

Notes

¹Imran Ahsan Khan Nyazee, Theories of Islamic Law: The Methodology of Ijtihad (Islamic Trust, Kuala Lumpur 2002) 63–4.

²Ibid. 64.

³Abdulkarim Zaidan, Al Mdkhal Li-dirasat Shari'ah al-Islamiyyah (Dar Umar bin Khatab, Alexandria 1969) 38.

⁴HA Malik Sayed, ‘Shari'ah: A Legal System and a Way of Life’, in Oloyede Abdul-Rahmon (ed), Perspectives in Islamic Law and Jurisprudence (Polygraph Venture, Ibadan 2001) 25–26.

⁵HH Hassan, An Introduction to the Study Islamic Law (Adam, New Delhi 2005) 6.

⁶Ibid.

⁷Muhammed Asad, The Principles of State and Government in Islam (Islamic Book Trust, Kuala Lumpur 2001], 2.

⁸JM Cowan, The Hans Wehr Dictionary of Modern Written Arabic (Modern Language Services, New Delhi 1960) 159.

⁹Al-Mirghinani'Ali Ibn Bakr, Al-Hidayah Sharihu Bidayatul Mubtadi (Dar Ihyau Al-Turath Al-Arabi, Beirut 1995) II, 339.

¹⁰prof. Dr. Anwarullah, The Criminal Law of Islam (AS Noordeen, Kuala Lumpur 2002) 112.

¹¹Nyazee (n 1) 110.

¹²Ibid.

¹³Mohamed S El-Awa, Punishment in Islamic Law: A Comparative Study (American Trust Publ., Indianapolis, IA 1982) 43.

¹⁴Ottoman bin ‘Ali Zaylai, Tabyeen al-Haqai'a, A Commentary on Kanz al Daqai'q (Al Mutbah Al-Kubra, Cairo 1313 AH) III, 175.

¹⁵Abu al-Walid Muhammad bin Ahmad Ibn Rushed, called Al-Hafid, Bidayat Al-Mujahid (Darul-Fikr, Cairo 1995) II, 355–72.

¹⁶Muhammad Ibn Arafa Dasuki, Hashyatul Al Dasuki Ala Sharhi Al-Kabir (Issa Al Babi A Halabi, Cairo 1980) IV, 298.

¹⁷Abu bakar Ibn Muhammad Al-Husaini, Kifayatu Al-Akhyar fi-Hill Ghayatul Al-Ikhtisar (Dar Ihyau Kutbul Arabiya, Cairo 1965) 178–205.

¹⁸Abdulr Rahman Ibn Ibrahim Al-Maqdasi, Al-Uddah Sharhu Al-Umdar (Dar Ihyaul Kutubu Al-Arabiya, Cairo 1967) 544–78.

¹⁹Afis A Oladosu, ‘Critical Perspectives to the Penal Code of Islam’ in Oloyede Abdul-Rahmon (ed), Perspectives in Islamic Law and Jurisprudence (Polygraph Venture, Ibadan 2001) 185.

²⁰El-Awa (n 13) 43.

²²Anwarullah (n 10) 113.

²¹Al-Mirghinani (n 9) III, 344.

²⁴Ruud Peters, Islamic Criminal Law in Nigeria (Spectrum, Ibadan 2003, 62.

²³El-Awa (n 13) 14.

²⁵El-Awa (n 13) 14.

²⁶Anwarullah (n 10) 132.

²⁷El-Awa (n 13) 15.

²⁸Ibid.

²⁹Abdul Qahir bin Tahir Baghdadi, al-Farq bayna al firaq (Muassasah al-Halabi, Cairo 1965) 84.

³⁰Muhammad bin ‘Ali Ashawkani, Nail al-Awtar (Muktaba Dar turath, Cairo 1966) VII, 91.

³¹Ibid. 94.

³²Muhammad Zafarullah Khan, ‘Punishment of Adultery in Islam’ (1981) 76(2) Rev Religions 306–16 (309).

³³Mirza Bashiruddin Mahmood Ahmad, The Holy Qur'an with English Translation and Commentary (Islam International Publ., Surrey 1998) IV, 1836.

³⁴Khan (n 32) 310.

³⁵Alhaj Mirza Bashir Ur-Din Mahmud Ahmad (1988) 1837.

³⁶Abu Ishaq Ibrahim Ibn ‘Ali Ashirazi, Allamu fi Usul Al-Fiqh (Maktabah Mustafa Al Babi Al-Halabi, Cairo 1957) 32.

³⁸Ibid. 309.

³⁷Khan (n 32) 310.

³⁹Syed Ahmad Khan Bahador, Essay on the Holy Qur'an (Turbner & Co., London 1870) 52.

⁴⁰Al-Hafiz Ibn Hajar Al-Asqalani, Bulugh Al-Maram (Dar-Us Salam Publ., Riyadh 1996) 430.

⁴¹Cowan (n 8) 109.

⁴²Abdul Wahab Asha'rani, Kashfaal-Ghuma (Darul Fikr, Cairo 1965) II, 171.

⁴³Khan (n 32) 314.

⁴⁴Bahador (n 39) 57.

⁴⁵Ashawkani (n 30) VII, 105.

⁴⁶Ashawkani (n 30) 87.

⁴⁹Mir Waliullah, The Quranic Law of Crimes (Taj, New Delhi 1967) 142.

⁴⁷Khan (n 32) 314.

⁴⁸Ibid.

⁵⁰Alhaj Mirza Bashir Ur-Din Mahmud Ahmad (n 35) 1837.

⁵²Ashawkani (n 30) VII, 105.

⁵¹Ahmad (n 35) 1838.

⁵³Ibid. VII, 87.

⁵⁴Ali bin Muhammad Ibn Hazm, Al-Muhallah (Maktabah al-Jumuhuriyah, Cairo 1967) XI, 183.

⁵⁵Abdullah bin Ahmad Ibn Qudamah, Al-Mughni (Maktabah al-Qahirah, Cairo 1970) VIII, 160–2.

⁵⁶El-Awa (n 13) 16.

⁵⁷Ibn Qudamah (n 55) VIII, 163.

⁵⁸NJ Coulson, A History of Islamic Law (Edinburgh University Press, Edinburgh 1971) 83; El-Awa (n 13) 17.

⁵⁹prof. Dr. Anwarullah, Principles of Evidence in Islam (A.S. Noordeen, Kuala Lumpur 2004) 44.

⁶⁰Ibrahim Ibn Farhun, Tabsiratul Hukam (Matba'ah al-Bahiyyah, Cairo 1302 AH) II, 183.

⁶¹El-Awa (n 13) 18.

⁶²Ibid. 19.

⁶³Ibn Qudamah (n 55) 161.

⁶⁴SK Rashid, Introduction, Islamic Law in Nigeria (Islamic Publications Bureau, Lagos 1986) 1.

⁶⁵El-Awa (n 13) 136.

⁶⁶Ibid. 137.

⁶⁷Ibid. 138.

⁶⁸Ahmad (n 35) 1838.

⁶⁹Shaka Momodu, ‘How it All Began’ This Day, Vol. VIII, no. 2526 (23 March 2002) 43–44ss.

⁷⁰John Ademola Jakubu, The Dialectics of Shari'a Imbroglio in Nigeria (Demyaxs Law Books, Ibadan 2003) 22.

⁷¹Ibid. 50–1.

⁷²Peters (n 24) 104.

⁷³Ashawkani (n 30) 104.

⁷⁴AA Gwandu, ‘Aspect of Administration of Justice in Sokoto Caliphate and Shaykh Abdullahi Ibn Fodio's Contribution to It’, in Syed Khalid Rashid (ed) Islamic Law in Nigeria (Application and Teaching) (Islamic Publication Bureau, Lagos 1988) 24.

⁷⁵Rashid (n 64) 2.

⁷⁶Said Ramadan, Islamic Law: Its Scope and Equity (Ashraf, Lahore 1970) 62.

⁷⁷Sir Muhammad Iqbal, The Reconstruction of Religious Thought in Islam (Ashraf, Lahore 1951) 174.

⁸⁰Al-Dasuki, Shaikh Muhammad bin Arafa, Hashiyat al-Dasuki ala al-Sharh al-Kabir (Dar Ihya’ al-Kutub al-Arabiyyah, Cairo 1980) II, 474. Al-Dasuki adds here that the hadd punishment should not be applied since there is uncertainty, as it has been related on the authority of Maliki that maximum period of gestation is six or seven years.

⁷⁸Peters (n 24) 4.

⁷⁹Sidi Ahmad Al-Dardir, Sharh al-Kabir ala Mukhtasar Khalil (Dar Ihya’ al-Kutub al-Arabiyyah, Cairo 1980) II, 474.

⁸⁵Ibn Abi Zayd Al-Qairawani, Matn ar-Risala, trs F Amira Zrein Matraji (Dar El Fikr, Beirut 1994), 101.

⁸¹Ibid. IV, 313.

⁸²Ibn Farhun (n 60) II, 97.

⁸³Ahmad bin Muhammad Al-Shawi, Hashiyat al-Shawi ala al-Shrh al-Saghir (Dar al Ma'arif, Cairo 1978) IV, 455.

⁸⁴Al-Dasuki (n 80) IV, 313.

⁸⁶Shaikh Muhammad Mustafa Shalabi, Al-fiqh al-Islami Bayna al-mithaliya alwaqiiya (Mansha'at al-Ma'arif, Alexandria 1960) 201.