is a Muslim whose sin Allah has expiated through the prescribed punishment carried out upon him. It is authentically established that the Prophet ﷺ offered the funeral prayer over one who had been stoned. This is the basic principle.

“The muḥṣan is one who has had intercourse with his Muslim or dhimmī wife in a valid marriage, while both are mature, sane, and free. If any one of these conditions is absent in either of them, then neither is deemed muḥṣan …”

His statement, “The muḥṣan is one who has had intercourse with his Muslim or dhimmī wife in a valid marriage, while both are mature, sane, and free”: these are the conditions of iḥṣān (legal marital status establishing liability to stoning).

His statement, “his wife,” means his spouse.

His statement, “or dhimmī”: this wording is open to criticism. The correct wording would be: “or a woman from the People of the Book,” for a man may marry a Jewish or Christian woman whether she is a dhimmī or under a treaty of protection.

His statement, “in a valid marriage,” relates to the phrase, “has had intercourse,” and excludes an invalid or void marriage. The difference between a void marriage and an invalid marriage is that a void marriage is one whose invalidity is unanimously agreed upon by the scholars, whereas an invalid marriage is one concerning whose validity the scholars differ. Marriages, therefore, are of three types: valid, invalid, and void.

An example of an invalid marriage is when a man marries a woman without a guardian; this is an invalid marriage because the scholars differ concerning it.

An example of a void marriage is when a man marries his wife’s sister; this is void because it is prohibited by scholarly consensus.

His statement, “while both”: the pronoun refers to the two spouses.

His statement, “mature”: for a man, maturity is attained through one of three matters: reaching the age of fifteen years, the growth of pubic hair, or ejaculation. A woman has one additional sign: menstruation.