Al-Isra: (32) And do not approach adultery...

Know that when the Almighty commanded the five matters previously mentioned—which essentially return to two things: reverence for God's command and compassion for God's creation—He followed them by mentioning prohibitions against certain acts.

The first of these is His prohibition against adultery, where He said: {And do not approach} (ولا تقربوا).

Al-Qaffal said: When a person is told, "Do not approach this," it is a stronger prohibition than if he were told, "Do not do it." Furthermore, the Almighty explained this prohibition by stating that it {was an abomination and an evil way} (كان فاحشة وساء سبيلا).

Know that people have differed regarding whether, when the Almighty commands or prohibits something, it can be said that He commanded or prohibited it for a reason pertaining to that thing itself, or not.

Those who affirm the intellect's capacity to judge good and evil (i.e., that things are inherently good or bad) argue that this is the case. Those who deny the intellect's capacity to judge good and evil argue otherwise.

The proponents of the intellect's capacity to judge good and evil used this verse as proof for their position. They said: The Almighty prohibited adultery and based that prohibition on it being an fahishah (abomination). Therefore, it is impossible that its being an fahishah is merely a synonym for it being prohibited. If that were the case, it would lead to defining a thing by itself, which is impossible. Thus, it must be that its being an fahishah is a quality inherent to it by virtue of it being adultery. This indicates that things possess inherent goodness or badness due to reasons pertaining to themselves, and it also indicates that God's prohibition of them is based on their inherent nature. This line of reasoning is plausible.

However, it is better to say that a thing's inherent quality of being a benefit (maslaha) or a harm (mafsada) is established by its own nature, not by Divine Law. For instance, consuming suitable food is a benefit, and painful striking is a harm; the determination of this is established by reason, not by the Law.

If this is established, we say: The injunctions of God Almighty align with the benefits of the world in both worldly life (ma'ash) and the Hereafter (ma'ad). This is the apparent discourse, yet it contains tremendous complexities and deep discussions, for which we ask God for success in reaching the ultimate goal.

Having understood this, we say: Adultery encompasses several types of harms:

1. Confusion of Lineage: The mixing and obscuring of ancestry. A man will not know if the child born to the adulterous woman is his or someone else's. Consequently, he will not undertake the responsibility of raising the child or continue to care for it, leading to the loss of offspring and the ruin of the world.
2. Conflict and Strife: If there is no legitimate religious reason for one man to have exclusive rights to a woman over others, the only remaining basis for obtaining that exclusivity is mutual aggression and fighting. This opens the door to chaos, disorder, and combat. How many accounts have we heard of severe killings resulting from a single woman's engagement in adultery!
3. Repulsion and Lack of Intimacy: When a woman engages in and becomes accustomed to adultery, every sound nature and upright mind finds her repulsive. Consequently, affection, love, tranquility, and marriage cannot be established. This is why, when a woman becomes notorious for adultery, the natures of most people recoil from associating with her.
4. Loss of Exclusivity: If the door to adultery is opened, then no man retains exclusivity over any woman. Any man can approach any woman he desires. At that point, there remains no difference between the human species and other beasts in this regard.
5. Failure of Domestic Purpose: The purpose of a woman is not merely the satisfaction of lust, but to become a partner to the man in managing the household, preparing food, drink, and clothing, to be the mistress of the house and the guardian of the door, and to take care of the children and servants. These essential duties cannot be fulfilled unless her focus is restricted to this single man, cutting off her desire for all other men. This is only achieved by prohibiting adultery and completely closing this door.
6. Inherent Humiliation: Sexual intercourse inherently involves intense humiliation. The proof is that the most severe forms of insult among people involve mentioning the words related to coitus. If intercourse did not involve humiliation, this would not be the case. Moreover, all rational people only engage in intercourse in concealed places and at times when no one can see them. Also, all rational people are ashamed to mention the wives of their sons, sisters, or mothers when they engage in intercourse with them. If intercourse were not humiliating, this would not be the case.

If this is established, we say: Since intercourse involves humiliation, seeking to reduce it aligns with reason. Restricting one woman to one man seeks to reduce this act. Furthermore, the humiliation inherent in marriage is compensated for by the benefits derived from it. Adultery, however, opens the door to that reprehensible act without being compensated by any benefits. Therefore, it must remain under the original ruling of prohibition and restraint. Thus, sound intellects judge adultery to be reprehensible based on what we have mentioned.

If this is established, we say: The Almighty described adultery with three attributes: being an fahishah (abomination), being an object of maqt (loathing) in another verse, and {and an evil way} (wa sa'a sabila).

• As for it being an fahishah: This points to its inclusion of the corruption of lineages, which leads to the ruin of the world, and its inclusion of fighting and aggression over private parts, which also leads to the ruin of the world.
• As for maqt (loathing): We mentioned that the adulteress becomes loathed and detested, which prevents the establishment of tranquility and marriage, and prevents a man from relying on her for any of his needs or interests.
• As for it being an evil way (sa'a sabila): This refers to what we mentioned: that no difference remains between humans and beasts regarding the lack of exclusivity of males over females. Also, the humiliation, defect, and disgrace of this act remain upon the woman without being compensated by any benefits.

We mentioned six aspects regarding the reprehensibility of adultery, while God Almighty mentioned three terms. We have assigned each of these three terms to two aspects from those six. And God knows best His intent.

! 7 < { And do not kill the soul which Allah has forbidden [to be killed] except by right, and whoever is killed unjustly - We have certainly given his heir authority, but let him not exceed the limits in [the matter of] retaliation. Indeed, he is aided. } > 7 !