Hadd of False Accusation and Adultery — Protecting Honor

fiqh Level: advanced hudud fqh-013

ٱلزَّانِيَةُ وَٱلزَّانِي فَٱجۡلِدُواْ كُلَّ وَٰحِدٍ مِّنۡهُمَا مِاْئَةَ جَلۡدَةٍ

— النور 2

Hadd of adultery: "Flog each one of them with a hundred lashes" (24:2) — hundred lashes for the unmarried; majority position: stoning for the married (from Sunnah).

Difficult proof requirement: Four witnesses who saw the act itself with their eyes — an almost impossible condition ensuring public indecency is addressed, not private matters.

Hadd of false accusation: "Those who accuse chaste women without four witnesses — flog them eighty lashes" (24:4).

Source: Al-Qurtubi (12/156); Ibn Al-Arabi (3/332); Ibn Qudama (9/34)

Question: How many witnesses are required to prove adultery and what is the wisdom?

Answer: Four witnesses who see the act itself — this difficult condition targets public indecency and advertising of immorality, not surveillance of individuals in private.