Tafseer of The Women · An-Nisaa · 4:16
And the two who commit it among you, dishonor them both. But if they repent and correct themselves, leave them alone. Indeed, Allah is ever Accepting of repentance and Merciful.
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.
The explanation of His statement: وَاللَّذَانِ يَأْتِيَانِهَا مِنْكُمْ ("And the two among you who commit it").
Abū Jaʿfar said: He — exalted be His praise — means by His statement "and the two among you who commit it" the man and the woman who commit it; He says: who commit the abomination. The "hāʾ" and the "alif" in His statement "yaʾtiyānihā" ("who commit it") refer back to "the abomination" (al-fāḥisha) mentioned in His statement وَاللاتِي يَأْتِينَ الْفَاحِشَةَ مِنْ نِسَائِكُمْ ("And those among your women who commit the abomination"). The meaning is: and the two among you who commit the abomination, inflict harm upon them both.
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Then the exegetes differed concerning who is meant by His statement "and the two among you who commit it, inflict harm upon them both."
Some of them said: They are the two unmarried persons who have not previously been married (al-bikrān), and they are other than those who are meant in the verse before it. They said: His statement وَاللاتِي يَأْتِينَ الْفَاحِشَةَ مِنْ نِسَائِكُمْ ("And those among your women who commit the abomination") refers to the previously-married women who have been married by husbands (al-thayyibāt al-muḥṣanāt), whereas His statement "and the two among you who commit it" refers to the two unmarried persons who have not previously been married (al-bikrān).
Mention of who said that:
8812 — Muḥammad ibn al-Ḥusayn related to us, he said: Aḥmad ibn al-Mufaḍḍal related to us, he said: Asbāṭ related to us, on the authority of al-Suddī: he mentioned the young girls and the young men who were not yet married, and said: "and the two among you who commit it, inflict harm upon them both."
8813 — Yūnus related to us, he said: Ibn Wahb informed us, he said: Ibn Zayd said concerning His statement "and the two among you who commit it": the two unmarried persons = "inflict harm upon them both."
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Others said: Rather, by His statement "and the two among you who commit it" what is meant are the two men who commit fornication (al-zāniyān).
Mention of who said that:
8814 — Abū Hishām al-Rifāʿī related to us, he said: Yaḥyā related to us, on the authority of Ibn Jurayj, on the authority of Mujāhid: "and the two among you who commit it, inflict harm upon them both," he said: the two men who perform the act, without euphemism.
8815 — Muḥammad ibn ʿAmr related to us, he said: Abū ʿĀṣim related to us, on the authority of ʿĪsā, on the authority of Ibn Abī Najīḥ, on the authority of Mujāhid concerning His statement "and the two among you who commit it": the two who commit fornication.
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Others said: Rather, by it are meant the man and the woman, except that no unmarried person apart from a previously-married person was intended by it.
Mention of who said that:
8816 — Abū Hishām al-Rifāʿī related to us, he said: Yaḥyā related to us, on the authority of Ibn Jurayj, on the authority of ʿAṭāʾ: "and the two among you who commit it, inflict harm upon them both," he said: the man and the woman.
8817 — Muḥammad ibn Ḥumayd related to us, he said: Yaḥyā ibn Wāḍiḥ related to us, he said: al-Ḥusayn related to us, on the authority of Yazīd al-Naḥwī, on the authority of ʿIkrima and al-Ḥasan al-Baṣrī, who both said: وَاللاتِي يَأْتِينَ الْفَاحِشَةَ مِنْ نِسَائِكُمْ ("And those among your women who commit the abomination") up to His statement أَوْ يَجْعَلَ اللَّهُ لَهُنَّ سَبِيلا ("or that Allah provides a way for them") — He mentioned the man after the woman, then He joined them both together and said: "and the two among you who commit it, inflict harm upon them both; and if they both repent and reform, then turn away from them. Verily, Allah is ever accepting of repentance, merciful."
8818 — Al-Qāsim related to us, he said: al-Ḥusayn related to us, he said: Ḥajjāj related to me, on the authority of Ibn Jurayj, he said: ʿAṭāʾ and ʿAbd Allāh ibn Kathīr said concerning His statement "and the two among you who commit it": this applies to the man and the woman together.
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Abū Jaʿfar said: The correct of these opinions concerning the explanation of His statement "and the two among you who commit it" is the opinion of the one who said: "By it are meant the two unmarried persons who have not previously been married when they commit fornication, one of them being a man and the other a woman." For if by it the intent were to set forth the ruling concerning men who commit fornication, just as by His statement وَاللاتِي يَأْتِينَ الْفَاحِشَةَ مِنْ نِسَائِكُمْ the intent was to set forth the ruling concerning the women who commit fornication, then it would have been said: "and those among you who commit it, inflict harm upon them" (in the masculine plural), or it would have been said: "and the one among you who commits it" (in the singular), just as concerning the verse before it was said: وَاللاتِي يَأْتِينَ الْفَاحِشَةَ, where their mention was put in the plural and it was not said: "and the two women who commit the abomination" (in the dual).
So too do the Arabs: when they intend to set forth a threat concerning a deed or a promise concerning it, they put the names of the doers in the form of the plural or the singular — and that is because the singular indicates its kind — and they do not put them in the form of the dual. Thus they say: "Those who do such-and-such, for them is such-and-such," and "The one who does such-and-such, for him is such-and-such," and they do not say: "The two who do such-and-such, for them both is such-and-such," unless it concerns a deed that can only proceed from two different persons, such as fornication (zinā), which can only proceed from a man who commits fornication and a woman who commits fornication. When that is the case, it is stated in the form of the dual, by which are meant the doer and the one upon whom the deed is performed. But that one should mention it in the form of the dual, while by it are meant two persons in a deed that each of them separately could perform, or in a deed in which they are not jointly involved — that is something not known in their language.
When that is so, then clear is the falsity of the opinion of the one who said: "By His statement 'and the two among you who commit it' are meant the two men" = and the correctness of the opinion of the one who said: "By it are meant the man and the woman."
And when that is so, then it is known that they are other than the women whose ruling was previously set forth in His statement وَاللاتِي يَأْتِينَ الْفَاحِشَةَ ("And those who commit the abomination"), because these two are a pair, and those others are a group.
And when that is so, then it is known that the house-confinement for the previously-married women was a punishment until death took them away, before a way was provided for them, because that is more severe in punishment than inflicting harm, which means harshness and reproach or reviling and disgrace; just as the way that was provided for them, namely stoning (rajm), was more severe than the way that was provided for the unmarried, namely the hundred lashes and the banishment for a year.
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The explanation of His statement — exalted is He: فَآذُوهُمَا فَإِنْ تَابَا وَأَصْلَحَا فَأَعْرِضُوا عَنْهُمَا إِنَّ اللَّهَ كَانَ تَوَّابًا رَحِيمًا ("Then inflict harm upon them both; and if they both repent and reform, then turn away from them. Verily, Allah is ever accepting of repentance, merciful") (4:16).
Abū Jaʿfar said: The exegetes differed concerning "the harm" that Allah — exalted be His mention — had made a punishment for the two who commit the abomination, before He provided for them a way out of that.
Some of them said: That harm was harm by means of the word and the tongue, such as shaming and reproaching over the abomination they had committed.
Mention of who said that:
8819 — Bishr ibn Muʿādh related to us, he said: Yazīd related to us, he said: Saʿīd related to us, on the authority of Qatāda: "inflict harm upon them both," he said: they were both inflicted with harm by means of the word.
8820 — Muḥammad ibn al-Ḥusayn related to us, he said: Aḥmad ibn Mufaḍḍal related to us, he said: Asbāṭ related to us, on the authority of al-Suddī: "inflict harm upon them both; and if they both repent and reform, then turn away from them" — when the young girl and the young man committed fornication, they were treated harshly and shamed until they desisted from that.
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Others said: That harm was harm by means of the tongue, except that it was reviling.
Mention of who said that:
8821 — Muḥammad ibn ʿAmr related to us, he said: Abū ʿĀṣim related to us, on the authority of ʿĪsā, on the authority of Ibn Abī Najīḥ, on the authority of Mujāhid: "inflict harm upon them both," he means: reviling.
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Others said: Rather, that harm was by means of the tongue and the hand.
Mention of who said that:
8822 — Al-Muthannā related to me, he said: ʿAbd Allāh ibn Ṣāliḥ related to us, he said: Muʿāwiya ibn Ṣāliḥ related to me, on the authority of ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭalḥa, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās concerning His statement "and the two among you who commit it, inflict harm upon them both": when the man committed fornication, harm was inflicted upon him with shaming and he was struck with sandals.
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Abū Jaʿfar said: The correct of the opinions concerning that is that one says: Allah — exalted be His mention — had commanded the believers to inflict harm upon the two mentioned fornicators when they committed that while they belonged to the people of Islam. "The harm" may pertain to every reprehensible matter that afflicts a person, whether it be an evil word with the tongue or a deed. In the verse there is no clarification of which of these it was that the believers were commanded to do on that day, nor any report concerning it from the Messenger of Allah ﷺ through a narration of a single transmitter or through a narration of a group whose coming necessitates the removal of the excuse.
The exegetes differed concerning that, and it is possible that that harm was by means of the tongue or the hand, and it is possible that it was harm by means of both. There is in knowing which of these it was no benefit — neither in religion nor in the worldly matter — nor is there in ignorance of it any harm, since Allah — exalted be His praise — has abrogated that (nasakha) from His established ordinances by that which He has made obligatory as a ruling for His servants concerning those two and concerning the women before them. As for the ruling that He made obligatory concerning those two, that is what He made obligatory in "Surah al-Nūr: 2" with His statement الزَّانِيَةُ وَالزَّانِي فَاجْلِدُوا كُلَّ وَاحِدٍ مِنْهُمَا مِائَةَ جَلْدَةٍ ("The woman who commits fornication and the man who commits fornication, flog each of them with a hundred lashes"). And as for the ruling that He made obligatory concerning the women before them, that is the stoning (rajm) by which the Messenger of Allah judged concerning them. And the exegetes are all unanimously agreed that Allah — exalted be His mention — provided a way out for the perpetrators of the abomination among the fornicators, men and women, by means of the prescribed punishments (ḥudūd) by which He judged concerning them.
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A group of the exegetes said: Allah — glorified be He — has by His statement الزَّانِيَةُ وَالزَّانِي فَاجْلِدُوا كُلَّ وَاحِدٍ مِنْهُمَا مِائَةَ جَلْدَةٍ [Surah al-Nūr: 2] abrogated His statement "and the two among you who commit it, inflict harm upon them both."
Mention of who said that:
8823 — Muḥammad ibn ʿAmr related to me, he said: Abū ʿĀṣim related to us, on the authority of ʿĪsā, on the authority of Ibn Abī Najīḥ, on the authority of Mujāhid: "and the two among you who commit it, inflict harm upon them both," he said: all of this was abrogated by the verse that is in "al-Nūr" with the prescribed punishment (ḥadd).
8824 — Abū Hishām related to us, he said: Yaḥyā related to us, on the authority of Ibn Jurayj, on the authority of Mujāhid: "and the two among you who commit it, inflict harm upon them both" — the verse — he said: this was abrogated by the verse in "Surah al-Nūr" with the prescribed punishment.
8825 — Ibn Ḥumayd related to us, he said: Abū Tumayla related to us, he said: al-Ḥusayn ibn Wāqid related to us, on the authority of Yazīd al-Naḥwī, on the authority of ʿIkrima and al-Ḥasan al-Baṣrī, who both said concerning His statement "and the two among you who commit it, inflict harm upon them both" — the verse —: that was abrogated by the verse of flogging, and he said: الزَّانِيَةُ وَالزَّانِي فَاجْلِدُوا كُلَّ وَاحِدٍ مِنْهُمَا مِائَةَ جَلْدَةٍ.
8826 — Al-Muthannā related to me, he said: Abū Ṣāliḥ related to us, he said: Muʿāwiya ibn Ṣāliḥ related to me, on the authority of ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭalḥa, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās concerning His statement "and the two among you who commit it, inflict harm upon them both": Allah revealed after this الزَّانِيَةُ وَالزَّانِي فَاجْلِدُوا كُلَّ وَاحِدٍ مِنْهُمَا مِائَةَ جَلْدَةٍ; and if they had both been previously married (muḥṣanayn), they were stoned according to the sunna of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ.
8827 — Muḥammad ibn al-Ḥusayn related to us, he said: Aḥmad ibn Mufaḍḍal related to us, he said: Asbāṭ related to us, on the authority of al-Suddī: وَاللاتِي يَأْتِينَ الْفَاحِشَةَ مِنْ نِسَائِكُمْ — the verse — the prescribed punishments came and abrogated it.
8828 — It was related to me on the authority of al-Ḥusayn ibn al-Faraj, he said: I heard Abā Muʿādh saying: ʿUbayd ibn Sulaymān informed us, he said: I heard al-Ḍaḥḥāk saying: the prescribed punishment abrogated this verse.
8829 — Al-Qāsim related to us, he said: al-Ḥusayn related to us, he said: Abū Sufyān related to us, on the authority of Maʿmar, on the authority of Qatāda: فَأَمْسِكُوهُنَّ فِي الْبُيُوتِ ("Confine them in the houses") — the verse — he said: the prescribed punishments abrogated it, and His statement وَاللَّذَانِ يَأْتِيَانِهَا مِنْكُمْ ("And the two among you who commit it"), the prescribed punishments abrogated it.
8830 — Yūnus related to me, he said: Ibn Wahb informed us, he said: Ibn Zayd said concerning His statement "and the two among you who commit it, inflict harm upon them both" — the verse —: then this was abrogated, and the way was made for her when she committed fornication while she had previously been married: she was stoned and banished, and for the man the way was made: a hundred lashes.
8831 — Al-Ḥasan ibn Yaḥyā related to us, he said: ʿAbd al-Razzāq informed us, he said: Maʿmar informed us, on the authority of Qatāda concerning His statement فَأَمْسِكُوهُنَّ فِي الْبُيُوتِ حَتَّى يَتَوَفَّاهُنَّ الْمَوْتُ ("Confine them in the houses until death takes them away"), he said: the prescribed punishments abrogated it.
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As for His statement "and if they both repent and reform, then turn away from them," by it He means — exalted be His praise —: and if they both repent of the abomination they had committed and return again to obedience to Allah concerning what is between the two of them = "and reform," He says: and reform their religion by returning to repentance over their abomination and acting according to what pleases Allah = "then turn away from them," He says: forgive them both, and cease the inflicting of harm that I had commanded you to inflict upon them as a punishment for the abomination they had committed, and inflict no further harm upon them after their repentance.
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As for His statement "Verily, Allah is ever accepting of repentance, merciful," by it He means: Allah ever returns to His servants with that which they love, when they return to that which He loves from them, namely obedience to Him = "merciful" toward them, He means: possessor of mercy and compassion.
