to it, or something close to it: namely, that she be detained in a safe place for one year.

His statement, “and he is to be exiled for one year”: is the relevant year a lunar year or a solar year? What is meant is the lunar year, based on the saying of Allah, Most High:

“They ask you about the new moons. Say, ‘They are indicators of time for people and for the pilgrimage.’” [al-Baqarah 2:189]

And His saying:

“And He ordained for it phases, that you might know the number of years and the reckoning.” [Yunus 10:5]

And His saying:

“Indeed, the number of months with Allah is twelve months in the Book of Allah, from the day He created the heavens and the earth.” [al-Tawbah 9:36]

The Messenger ﷺ explained that these twelve are Muharram and the remaining Arabic months (1). Accordingly, whenever the Quran and Sunnah mention a year, what is intended is the lunar, calendrical year.

His statement, “and the slave is to receive fifty lashes”: a slave is one who is owned, the opposite of a free person. If a slave commits adultery, he is to be given fifty lashes. The evidence is the saying of Allah, Most High:

“When they have entered into marriage”—meaning female slaves—“then if they commit an act of indecency, they are liable to half the punishment prescribed for free married women.” [al-Nisaʾ 4:25]

The punishment that may be halved in the case of free married women is flogging, because stoning to death cannot be divided in half. Since flogging consists of one hundred lashes, they are liable to fifty lashes. Thus, in the case of a woman, it is clear that she receives fifty lashes, because this is explicitly stated in the Quran. But if a man is a slave and commits adultery, what is the evidence that he is to receive fifty lashes?

They say: the evidence for this is analogy of the man to the woman, because there is no