TRANSLATION
Grossly immoral and immodest conduct by your women should be verified by four direct witnesses. Should there be such witnesses, then confine such women to their homes [for their own safety and to restrain them but not against their will]—until death comes or God opens a way [to their repentance]. Both parties [men and women] who are guilty shall be punished in a similar manner; but if they repent and mend their ways, then leave them on their own accord. God is an Acceptor of Repentance and is Compassionate [so should you be]. God’s acceptance of repentance is only for those who commit such evil out of ignorance and then repent soon thereafter. To them God turns mercifully, and He is ever Knowing and Wise. But such repentance will be not granted to those who persist in such evils until they face death when they say, “I repent”; nor it is for those who persistently deny the truth [as a disbeliever]. For these types of people, God will make them face an awful punishment.
For those who believe, it is not lawful to try to inherit their wife’s property by restraining such women against their will; neither shall you confine them with an intent to take away what you have given them freely before unless they have committed grossly immoral acts in an obvious [verified] manner. Always treat them with goodness, and reflect on the fact that God might make them a source of abundant good, even as you dislike them. Similarly, if you wish to marry another woman in place of your wife, do not take anything from her what you had given freely before, even if it was a heap of gold. And to do so by falsely slandering her is a manifest sin on your part. And how is it possible when you both have given yourselves to each other and she had taken a strong pledge from you [for her care]?241
And marry not a woman whom your father had married; what has been in the past is a matter of the past. Such practice is indecent and hateful—an evil practice [of the past].
INTERPRETATION
241. More often than not, women are subject to slander and accusation by their husbands and other males (sometimes by women as well) in order to exploit them and to take advantage of them, and this is true even today around the world as it was during the days when the Qur’an was revealed in Arabia. To discourage such abuse and also to verify beyond doubt the immoral conduct in question, it is recommended to acquire four direct witnesses to verify the conduct in question. In contrast, regarding financial transactions and other legal verifications, two witnesses are sufficient, but in the case of gross moral misconduct, the legal requirement for four direct witnesses is established, partly to minimize potential abuse. Restricting such guilty women, once verified by four witnesses, to their homes is meant to protect them from any harm from overzealous people who might physically harm them and to allow them time to reflect and mend their ways and not against their will as is evident from verse 19 that follows.
Men guilty of such misconduct should be treated the same way, but in some Muslim countries, using the excuse of so-called Sharia law grossly favors men in such situations, contrary to what the Qur’an explicitly stated here and what human equality would dictate. In our contemporary society, there may be other means and technologies that can provide conclusive evidence (or lack thereof), which could override human evidence to the contrary. There are, again, suggestive rules and guidance that each generation should discuss, debate, and come to workable frameworks and legal ruling based on collective decision making and following the established process of decision making and legal ruling.
Husbands and other members of the faithful community are warned not to slander women maliciously, to force them to give up gifts given to them, and attempt to inherit their property by constraining them. Goodness and honesty should be the norm in a marriage relationship, and any attempt to defraud a partner, especially the woman, is prohibited in the strongest terms—both legally and morally. Unfortunately, in some of the Muslim communities, such verses are used to only harm women while the communities routinely look the other way when men are guilty of such conduct—it is a shameful practice and a gross violation of equality of men and women in all matters of justice and fairness and is in direct contradiction to what the Qur’an teaches. Many such interpretations and practices by Muslim jurists of the past generations are grossly misaligned with Qur’anic teachings and need to be revisited, as God had asked each emerging generation repeatedly to reexamine the social norms and behavior of the past generations.
There needs be to a serious discussion about Sharia law as it exists today in some countries and how it is being practiced. Sharia law, a man-made interpretation of the Qur’an made into law, came into existence under two different opposing forces—the ruling class to contain the masses while they themselves were protected from such laws (as practiced in some Arab countries even to this day and by many Muslim rulers of the past, with notable exceptions) and Muslim legal scholars, many of whom were persecuted by the ruling class for their efforts to maintain a just and stable society for the common man and to restrain the abuse of the ruling classes. While Western law and civil codes have taken full advantage of ideas propagated by the Qur’an and Muslim legal scholars from the past, Muslims of recent generations have failed to continue to reflect on the Qur’an and evolve the essence of Islamic rules and regulations that are appropriately discussed and vigorously debated in public.
REFLECTION
Women’s rights are a matter of great concern in Islam, and the potential for abuse suffered by women in our society has been dealt with in a very direct manner. We need to seriously reflect on the message of Islam as guidance based on truth, justice, and equality for all, especially women, who have historically been exploited by all civilizations and religions, not to mention the Muslims themselves, despite clear guidance from the Qur’an and the Prophet’s teaching.
ACTION
As we read the Qur’an, we need to question ourselves as to the reasonableness and the wisdom contained in its injunctions and guidance. Unless we can internalize and convince ourselves of the value of this guidance through education, scholarship, and vigorous and open debates and fully acknowledge the greatness of God and ensure that women have equal voice in the discussion, we will fall short of our commitment to peace and social justice as espoused by Islam and instructed by the Qur’an.
Key Arabic Terms
75. Fahishah: Grossly immodest, immoral, lewd, indecent
76. Mishaq: A covenant of marriage