Surah Nisa ayat 16 Tafsir Quran 4:16

﴿وَاللَّذَانِ يَأْتِيَانِهَا مِنكُمْ فَآذُوهُمَا ۖ فَإِن تَابَا وَأَصْلَحَا فَأَعْرِضُوا عَنْهُمَا ۗ إِنَّ اللَّهَ كَانَ تَوَّابًا رَّحِيمًا﴾
[ النساء: 16]

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.

And when two of you read wa’lladhāni or wa’lladhānni men commit it that is a lewd act adultery or homosexual intercourse punish them both with insults and beatings with sandals; but if they repent of this lewd act and make amends through good action then leave them be and do not harm them. God ever turns relenting to those who repent and is Merciful to them. This verse is abrogated by the prescribed punishment if adultery is meant by the lewd act and similarly if homosexual intercourse is meant according to al-Shāfi‘ī; but according to him the person who is the object of the penetrative act is not stoned even if he be married; rather he is flogged and banished. Judging by the dual person pronoun it seems more obvious that homosexual fornication is meant by this verse even though the former sc. al-Shāfi‘ī was of the opinion that it referred to an adulterer and an adulteress; but this opinion of his may be countered by the fact that the reference to the two men becomes clear on account of the particle min being attached to a masculine pronoun minkum ‘of you’ and by the fact that they suffer the same punishment both effect the action of repentance and are both granted that they be left alone thereafter all of which applies specifically to men given that for women detention is stipulated as was stated before.

And if two of your men commit themselves to the same evil line of conduct (homosexuality) do punish them both. But if they repent and abandon wrong-doing, then disregard their past act and do not reproach them to induce mental pain; Allah has always accepted true repentance and the atonement made by the people; He has always been Tawabun (Relenting) and Rahimun

The Adulteress is Confined in her House; A Command Later Abrogated At the begining of Islam, the ruling was that if a woman commits adultery as stipulated by sufficient proof, she was confined to her home, without leave, until she died.
Allah said, وَاللَـتِى يَأْتِينَ الْفَـحِشَةَ يعني الزنا مِن نِّسَآئِكُمْ فَاسْتَشْهِدُواْ عَلَيْهِنَّ أَرْبَعةً مِّنْكُمْ فَإِن شَهِدُواْ فَأَمْسِكُوهُنَّ فِى الْبُيُوتِ حَتَّى يَتَوَفَّاهُنَّ الْمَوْتُ أَوْ يَجْعَلَ اللَّهُ لَهُنَّ سَبِيلاً ( And those of your women who commit illegal sexual intercourse, take the evidence of four witnesses from among you against them; and if they testify, confine them (i.e.
women ) to houses until death comes to them or Allah ordains for them some ( other ) way.) `Some other way' mentioned here is the abrogation of this ruling that came later.
Ibn `Abbas said, "The early ruling was confinement, until Allah sent down Surat An-Nur ( chapter 24 ) which abrogated that ruling with the ruling of flogging ( for fornication ) or stoning to death ( for adultery )." Similar was reported from `Ikrimah, Sa`id bin Jubayr, Al-Hasan, `Ata' Al-Khurasani, Abu Salih, Qatadah, Zayd bin Aslam and Ad-Dahhak, and this is a matter that is agreed upon.
Imam Ahmad recorded that `Ubadah bin As-Samit said, "When the revelation descended upon the Messenger of Allah ﷺ , it would affect him and his face would show signs of strain.
One day, Allah sent down a revelation to him, and when the Messenger was relieved of its strain, he said,
«خُذُوا عَنِّي، قَدْ جَعَلَ اللهُ لَهُنَّ سَبِيلًا، الثَّيِّبُ بِالثَّيِّبِ، وَالْبِكْرُ بِالْبِكْرِ، الثَّــيِّبُ جَلْدُ مِائَةٍ، وَرَجْمٌ بِالْحِجَارَةِ، وَالْبِكْرُ جَلْدُ مِائَةٍ ثُمَّ نَفْيُ سَنَة»
( Take from me: Allah has made some other way for them.
The married with the married, the unmarried with the unmarried.
The married gets a hundred lashes and stoning to death, while the unmarried gets a hundred lashes then banishment for a year. )" Muslim and the collectors of the Sunan recorded that `Ubadah bin As-Samit said that the Prophet said,
«خُذُوا عَنِّي خُذُوا عَنِّي، قَدْ جَعَلَ اللهُ لَهُنَّ سَبِيلًا، الْبِكْرُ بِالْبِكْرِ جَلْدُ مِائَةٍ وَتَغْرِيبُ عَامٍ، وَالثَّيِّبُ بِالثَّيِّبِ جَلْدُ مِائَةٍ وَالرَّجْم»
( Take from me, take from me.
Allah has made some other way for them: the (unmarried ) gets a hundred lashes and banishment for one year, while the ( married ) gets a hundred lashes and stoning to death.) At-Tirmidhi said, "Hasan Sahih".
Allah said, وَاللَّذَانَ يَأْتِيَـنِهَا مِنكُمْ فَـَاذُوهُمَا ( And the two persons among you who commit illegal sexual intercourse, punish them both. ) Ibn `Abbas and Sa`id bin Jubayr said that this punishment includes cursing, shaming them and beating them with sandals.
This was the ruling until Allah abrogated it with flogging or stoning, as we stated.
Mujahid said, "It was revealed about the case of two men who do it." As if he was referring to the actions of the people of Lut, and Allah knows best.
The collectors of Sunan recorded that Ibn `Abbas said that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said,
«مَنْ رَأَيْتُمُوهُ يَعْمَلُ عَمَلَ قَوْمِ لُوطٍ، فَاقْتُلُوا الْفَاعِلَ وَالْمَفْعُولَ بِه»
( Whoever you catch committing the act of the people of Lut (homosexuality ), then kill both parties to the act.) Allah said, فَإِن تَابَا وَأَصْلَحَا ( And if they repent and do righteous good deeds ), by refraining from that evil act, and thereafter their actions become righteous, فَأَعْرِضُواْ عَنْهُمَآ ( leave them alone ), do not verbally abuse them after that, since he who truly repents is just like he who has no sin, إِنَّ اللَّهَ كَانَ تَوَّاباً رَّحِيماً ( Surely, Allah is Ever the One Who accepts repentance, Most Merciful. ) The following is recorded in the Two Sahihs:
«إِذَا زَنَتْ أَمَةُ أَحَدِكُمْ، فَلْيَجْلِدْهَا الْحَدَّ، وَلَا يُثَرِّبْ عَلَيْهَا»
( When the slave-girl of one of you commits illegal sexual intercouse, let him flog her and not chastise her afterwards.
) because the lashes she receives erase the sin that she has committed.

(4:16) Punish both of those among you who are guilty of this sin, then if they repent and mend their ways, leave them alone. For Allah is always ready to accept repentance. He is All-Compassionate. *26

And the two who commit it among meaning

*26).
In these two verses ( 15-16 ) the first, preliminary directives for the punishment for unlawful sexual intercourse are stated.
The first verse deals with women.
The punishment laid down was to confine them until further directives were revealed.
The second verse ( i.e.
16 ) relates to both sexes.
The injunction lays down that they should be punished - that is, they should be beaten and publicly reproached.
Later, another injunction was revealed ( see Surah al-Nur 24: 2 ) which laid down that both the male and female should be given a hundred lashes.
These injunctions are necessarily of a preliminary nature since the people of Arabia were neither used to obeying the orders of any established government, the verdicts of any courts of law nor to following any legal code; it would therefore have been unwise to try to force acceptance of a penal code upon them so soon after the establishment of the Islamic state.
In due course, the punishments for unlawful sexual intercourse, for slanderous accusations of unchastity against women, and for theft were laid down in their definitive form and served as the basis of that detailed penal code which was enforced by the Prophet ( peace be on him ) and the Rightly-Guided Caliphs.
The apparent difference between the contents of the two verses led al-Suddi to the misconceived belief that the first verse lays down the punishment for married women, and the second that for unmarried men and women.
This is a tenuous explanation unsupported by any serious evidence and argument.
Even less convincing is the opinion expressed by Abu Muslim al-Isfahani that the first verse relates to lesbian relations between females, and the second to homosexual relations between males.
It is strange that al-Isfahani ignored the basic fact that the Qur'an seeks merely to chart a broad code of law and morality and hence deals only with fundamental questions.
It is inconsistent with the majestic style of the Qur'an to discuss secondary details which have been left to people to decide through the exercise of their legal judgement.
It is for this reason that when the problem of fixing a punishment for sodomy came up for consideration after the time of the Prophet ( peace be on him ), none of the Companions thought that the above-mentioned verse contained any relevant injunction.

 

The Adulteress is Confined in her House; A Command Later Abrogated At the begining of Islam, the ruling was that if a woman commits adultery as stipulated by sufficient proof, she was confined to her home, without leave, until she died.
Allah said, وَاللَـتِى يَأْتِينَ الْفَـحِشَةَ يعني الزنا مِن نِّسَآئِكُمْ فَاسْتَشْهِدُواْ عَلَيْهِنَّ أَرْبَعةً مِّنْكُمْ فَإِن شَهِدُواْ فَأَمْسِكُوهُنَّ فِى الْبُيُوتِ حَتَّى يَتَوَفَّاهُنَّ الْمَوْتُ أَوْ يَجْعَلَ اللَّهُ لَهُنَّ سَبِيلاً ( And those of your women who commit illegal sexual intercourse, take the evidence of four witnesses from among you against them; and if they testify, confine them (i.e.
women ) to houses until death comes to them or Allah ordains for them some ( other ) way.) `Some other way' mentioned here is the abrogation of this ruling that came later.
Ibn `Abbas said, "The early ruling was confinement, until Allah sent down Surat An-Nur ( chapter 24 ) which abrogated that ruling with the ruling of flogging ( for fornication ) or stoning to death ( for adultery )." Similar was reported from `Ikrimah, Sa`id bin Jubayr, Al-Hasan, `Ata' Al-Khurasani, Abu Salih, Qatadah, Zayd bin Aslam and Ad-Dahhak, and this is a matter that is agreed upon.
Imam Ahmad recorded that `Ubadah bin As-Samit said, "When the revelation descended upon the Messenger of Allah ﷺ , it would affect him and his face would show signs of strain.
One day, Allah sent down a revelation to him, and when the Messenger was relieved of its strain, he said, «خُذُوا عَنِّي، قَدْ جَعَلَ اللهُ لَهُنَّ سَبِيلًا، الثَّيِّبُ بِالثَّيِّبِ، وَالْبِكْرُ بِالْبِكْرِ، الثَّــيِّبُ جَلْدُ مِائَةٍ، وَرَجْمٌ بِالْحِجَارَةِ، وَالْبِكْرُ جَلْدُ مِائَةٍ ثُمَّ نَفْيُ سَنَة» ( Take from me: Allah has made some other way for them.
The married with the married, the unmarried with the unmarried.
The married gets a hundred lashes and stoning to death, while the unmarried gets a hundred lashes then banishment for a year. )" Muslim and the collectors of the Sunan recorded that `Ubadah bin As-Samit said that the Prophet said, «خُذُوا عَنِّي خُذُوا عَنِّي، قَدْ جَعَلَ اللهُ لَهُنَّ سَبِيلًا، الْبِكْرُ بِالْبِكْرِ جَلْدُ مِائَةٍ وَتَغْرِيبُ عَامٍ، وَالثَّيِّبُ بِالثَّيِّبِ جَلْدُ مِائَةٍ وَالرَّجْم» ( Take from me, take from me.
Allah has made some other way for them: the (unmarried ) gets a hundred lashes and banishment for one year, while the ( married ) gets a hundred lashes and stoning to death.) At-Tirmidhi said, "Hasan Sahih".
Allah said, وَاللَّذَانَ يَأْتِيَـنِهَا مِنكُمْ فَـَاذُوهُمَا ( And the two persons among you who commit illegal sexual intercourse, punish them both. ) Ibn `Abbas and Sa`id bin Jubayr said that this punishment includes cursing, shaming them and beating them with sandals.
This was the ruling until Allah abrogated it with flogging or stoning, as we stated.
Mujahid said, "It was revealed about the case of two men who do it." As if he was referring to the actions of the people of Lut, and Allah knows best.
The collectors of Sunan recorded that Ibn `Abbas said that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said, «مَنْ رَأَيْتُمُوهُ يَعْمَلُ عَمَلَ قَوْمِ لُوطٍ، فَاقْتُلُوا الْفَاعِلَ وَالْمَفْعُولَ بِه» ( Whoever you catch committing the act of the people of Lut (homosexuality ), then kill both parties to the act.) Allah said, فَإِن تَابَا وَأَصْلَحَا ( And if they repent and do righteous good deeds ), by refraining from that evil act, and thereafter their actions become righteous, فَأَعْرِضُواْ عَنْهُمَآ ( leave them alone ), do not verbally abuse them after that, since he who truly repents is just like he who has no sin, إِنَّ اللَّهَ كَانَ تَوَّاباً رَّحِيماً ( Surely, Allah is Ever the One Who accepts repentance, Most Merciful. ) The following is recorded in the Two Sahihs: «إِذَا زَنَتْ أَمَةُ أَحَدِكُمْ، فَلْيَجْلِدْهَا الْحَدَّ، وَلَا يُثَرِّبْ عَلَيْهَا» ( When the slave-girl of one of you commits illegal sexual intercouse, let him flog her and not chastise her afterwards.
) because the lashes she receives erase the sin that she has committed.

( And as for the two of you ) of your free people, i.e. any unmarried man or woman ( who are guilty thereof ) who are guilty of adultery, ( punish them both ) by maligning and upbraiding them. ( And if they repent ) after this ( and improve ) in relation to that which is between them and Allah, ( then let them be ) refrain from maligning and upbraiding them. ( Lo! Allah is Relenting ) He overlooks sins, ( Merciful ). Maligning and upbraiding the unmarried person who commits adultery was later abrogated and replaced by one hundred lashes for both parties.

And the two persons (man and woman) among you who commit illegal sexual intercourse, punish them both. And if they repent (promise Allah that they will never repeat, i.e. commit illegal sexual intercourse and other similar sins) and do righteous good deeds, leave them alone. Surely, Allah is Ever the One Who accepts repentance, (and He is) Most Merciful.

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