Tafsir of An-Nur 24:2

{الزانية والزانى} (The adulteress and the adulterer): The meaning is "flog them." It is also permissible for the predicate to be {فاجلدوا} (flog). The fa (ف) is introduced because the definite article (al-) carries the meaning of "the one who" (alladhi), incorporating the meaning of a conditional clause. Its estimation is: "She who has committed adultery and he who has committed adultery, flog them both," just as you say: "Whoever commits adultery, flog him." It is like His saying: {And those who accuse chaste women and then do not produce four witnesses, flog them}. It is also recited in the accusative case (nasb) based on an implied verb explained by the explicit one, which is better than [the construction in] "A Surah We have sent down" because of the imperative. It is also recited as (wal-zani) without the ya.

Al-jald (flogging) is striking the skin (jild). It is said: jaladahu, just as you say zahrahu (struck his back), batnahu (struck his belly), or ra’sahu (struck his head).

If you ask: Is this the ruling for all adulterers and adulteresses, or only some? I say: Rather, it is the ruling for those among them who are not muhsan (previously married/chaste), for the ruling for the muhsan is stoning. The conditions for ihsan according to Abu Hanifa are six: Islam, freedom, sanity, puberty, having entered into a valid marriage, and having consummated it. If one of these is missing, there is no ihsan. According to Al-Shafi'i, Islam is not a condition, based on the report that the Prophet (ﷺ) stoned two Jews who committed adultery. Abu Hanifa’s argument is the Prophet’s (ﷺ) saying: "Whoever associates partners with Allah is not muhsan."

If you ask: The wording implies the ruling applies to all adulterers and adulteresses, as the phrase {The adulteress and the adulterer} is general and covers both the muhsan and the non-muhsan. I say: "The adulteress and the adulterer" refer to the two genders—which are the opposites of the chaste male and female—in an absolute sense. The generic nature applies to both the whole and the part; whichever the speaker intends is acceptable, as is done with homonymous nouns.

It is recited as (wa-la ya’khudhukum) with a ya. Ra’fah (pity) is with a fatha on the hamza, and ra’afah is on the pattern of fa’alah. The meaning is that it is incumbent upon the believers to be firm in the religion of Allah, to exercise seriousness and steadfastness in it, and not to let pity or leniency prevent them from carrying out His limits. The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) is a sufficient example in this, as he said: "If Fatimah, daughter of Muhammad, were to steal, I would cut off her hand." His saying {If you believe in Allah and the Last Day} is for the purpose of agitation and inflaming anger for the sake of Allah and His religion. It is said: Do not have pity on them so that you do not suspend the limits or strike them too lightly. In the Hadith: "A man will be brought who reduced the limit by one lash, and he will say: 'Out of mercy for Your servants.' It will be said to him: 'Are you more merciful to them than I?' and he will be ordered to the Fire. And one who added a lash will be brought, and he will say: 'So that they may desist from Your disobedience,' and he will be ordered to the Fire." From Abu Hurayrah: "The establishment of a limit in a land is better for its people than forty nights of rain."

The Imam must appoint for the limits a man who is knowledgeable, insightful, and understands how to strike. The man is flogged while standing, wearing only his loincloth (izar), with a strike that is moderate—neither painful nor weak—distributed over all parts of the body, excluding only three: the face, the head, and the private parts. The term jald (skin-striking) indicates that the pain should not exceed the skin to reach the flesh. The woman is flogged while sitting, and nothing is removed from her clothes except the padding and fur.

Through this verse, Abu Hanifa argued that flogging is the limit for the non-muhsan without banishment. As for what Al-Shafi'i used as an argument for the necessity of banishment—the Prophet’s (ﷺ) saying: "The unmarried with the unmarried: one hundred lashes and banishment for a year"—and what is narrated from the Companions that they flogged and banished, it is considered abrogated by this verse according to him and his followers, or interpreted as a form of discretionary punishment (ta'zir) and discipline without obligation. Al-Shafi'i has one opinion regarding the banishment of a free person, and three regarding a slave: he is banished for a year like the free, he is banished for half a year just as he is flogged fifty lashes, or he is not banished at all, as Abu Hanifa said.

By this verse, the "harmful imprisonment" mentioned in His saying {Confine them to houses} and {And punish them both} was abrogated. It is said that calling it "torment" ('adhab) is proof that it is a punishment. It may be called 'adhab because it prevents recurrence, just as it is called nakal (deterrent).

{الطائفة} (A group): A faction that can form a circle; the minimum is three or four. It is a dominant descriptor, as if it were a group surrounding something. Ibn Abbas interpreted it as four to forty men of those who believe in Allah. Al-Hasan said: ten. Qatadah said: three or more. Ikrimah said: two or more. Mujahid said: one or more. The opinion of Ibn Abbas is preferred, because four is the group by which this limit is established.

The correct view is that this major sin is one of the greatest of the major sins; that is why Allah coupled it with shirk (polytheism) and killing a soul in His saying: {And they do not commit adultery, and whoever does that will meet a penalty}. He also said: {And do not approach adultery; indeed, it is an immorality and is evil as a way}. From the Prophet (ﷺ): "O people, fear adultery, for it contains six traits: three in this world and three in the Hereafter. As for those in this world: it removes splendor, inherits poverty, and shortens life. As for those in the Hereafter: it incurs wrath, an evil reckoning, and eternity in the Fire." Therefore, Allah fulfilled the hundred-lash count completely, unlike the limit for slander or drinking wine. He legislated for it a terrifying punishment, which is stoning, and forbade the believers from having pity on the one being flogged. He commanded the witnessing of a group for the sake of publicizing it; thus, it must be a group that achieves publicity, and one or two are not of that status. Its restriction to the believers is because that is more exposing, and the sinner is more ashamed among the righteous of his people. This is supported by the statement of Ibn Abbas (may Allah be pleased with them both): "Up to forty men of those who believe in Allah."