Tafseer of The Light · An-Noor · 24:4
And those who accuse chaste women and then do not produce four witnesses - lash them with eighty lashes and do not accept from them testimony ever after. And those are the defiantly disobedient,
Important: The Arabic source text is always authoritative. This translation is a study aid and has not been verified by scholars — do not use it as a basis for religious proof or for deriving rulings (ahkam). When in doubt, always consult the Arabic text and a qualified scholar.
Allah, exalted is His praise, says: those who slander chaste, free Muslim women by accusing them of fornication (zinā), and thereafter do not bring forward four upright witnesses concerning what they accuse them of, who testify that they saw them committing it — flog those who accused them of this with eighty lashes, and never accept their testimony again; they are the ones who transgressed the command of Allah and abandoned obedience to Him, and thus sinned.
It has been transmitted that this verse was revealed concerning those who falsely accused ʿĀʾisha, the wife of the Prophet ﷺ, with the slander (ifk).
Mention of those who said this:
Abū l-Sāʾib and Ibrāhīm ibn Saʿīd related to me, they said: Ibn Fuḍayl related to us, on the authority of Khuṣayf — he said: I asked Saʿīd ibn Jubayr: "Which is more grievous: fornication (zinā) or falsely accusing a chaste woman (qadhf al-muḥṣana)?" He said: "No, fornication is worse." I said: "But Allah says وَالَّذِينَ يَرْمُونَ الْمُحْصَنَاتِ ." He said: "This pertains specifically to the affair of ʿĀʾisha."
It was related to me from al-Ḥusayn, he said: I heard Abū Muʿādh say: ʿUbayd informed us, he said: I heard al-Ḍaḥḥāk say concerning وَالَّذِينَ يَرْمُونَ الْمُحْصَنَاتِ ثُمَّ لَمْ يَأْتُوا بِأَرْبَعَةِ شُهَدَاءَ — this verse is about the Muslim women.
Yūnus related to me, he said: Ibn Wahb informed us, he said: Ibn Zayd said concerning وَأُولَئِكَ هُمُ الْفَاسِقُونَ : he said — the liars.
