Al-Sharḥ al-Mumtiʿ - Ibn al-'Uthaymin - (14/279)

Al-Sharḥ al-MumtiʿIbn al-'Uthaymin

He then says:

“On the Day when their tongues, their hands, and their feet will testify against them concerning what they used to do. On that Day Allah will pay them in full their just due.” [al-Nur: 24–25]

It is authentically reported from the Prophet that among the destructive major sins is accusing chaste, believing, unsuspecting women of unlawful intercourse. (1)

Thus, it is one of the major sins, as indicated by the Quran and the sunnah. Its wisdom is what we mentioned previously.

The punishment for false accusation differs according to the accuser and according to the person accused, as will become clear from its conditions.

His statement: “If a legally responsible person falsely accuses a chaste person, he is to be flogged eighty lashes if he is free, and forty if he is a slave.” A legally responsible person is one who has reached puberty and is of sound mind, whether male or female. Even if a woman falsely accuses a man, the prescribed punishment for false accusation is carried out upon her.

The author mentioned the phrase “legally responsible person” by way of clarification; otherwise, we have previously stated, under the general conditions for prescribed punishments, that the person upon whom the punishment is carried out must have reached puberty and be of sound mind.

His statement, “a chaste person”: the term “chaste person” here differs from its meaning in the chapter on unlawful intercourse. Here, the author will define the chaste person as “a free, Muslim, sane, chaste, morally upright person capable of intercourse,” unlike its meaning in the chapter on unlawful intercourse.

(1) Reported by al-Bukhari in the Book of Wills, in the chapter on Allah's statement, “Indeed, those who consume the wealth of orphans unjustly...” (2766); and by Muslim in the Book of Faith, in the chapter on explaining the major sins and the gravest of them (89), on the authority of Abu Hurayrah.

ثم قال: ﴿يَوْمَ تَشْهَدُ عَلَيْهِمْ أَلْسِنَتُهُمْ وَأَيْدِيهِمْ وَأَرْجُلُهُمْ بِمَا كَانُوا يَعْمَلُونَ *﴾ ﴿يَوْمَئِذٍ يُوَفِّيهِمُ اللَّهُ دِينَهُمُ الْحَقَّ﴾ [النور: ٢٤، ٢٥]، وثبت عن النبي ﷺ أن من الكبائر الموبقة قذفَ المحصنات المؤمنات الغافلات (١). إذاً فهو من كبائر الذنوب بدلالة الكتاب والسنة، والحكمة فيه ما أشرنا إليه من قبل. والقذف تختلف عقوبته باختلاف القاذف، وباختلاف المقذوف، ويعلم ذلك من الشروط. قوله: «إِذَا قَذَفَ المُكَلَّفُ مُحْصَناً جُلِدَ ثَمَانِينَ جَلْدَةً إِنْ كَانَ حُرّاً وَإِنْ كَانَ عَبْداً أَرْبَعِينَ» «المكلف» البالغ العاقل، سواء كان هذا البالغ العاقل ذكراً أو أنثى، حتى المرأة لو أنها قذفت رجلاً يقام عليها حد القذف. وكلمة: «المكلف» جاء بها ﵀ من باب التبيين، وإلا فإنه قد سبق لنا في الشروط العامة في الحدود أنه يشترط أن يكون المحدود بالغاً عاقلاً. وقوله: «محصناً» المحصن هنا غير المحصن في باب الزنا، فالمحصن هنا سيذكره المؤلف بقوله: «الحر المسلم العاقل العفيف الملتزم الذي يجامع مثله» بخلاف ما في باب الزنا.

(١) أخرجه البخاري في الوصايا باب قوله تعالى: ﴿إِنَّ الَّذِينَ يَأْكُلُونَ أَمْوَالَ الْيَتَامَى ظُلْمًا﴾ … ﴾ (٢٧٦٦)، ومسلم في الإيمان باب بيان الكبائر وأكبرها (٨٩) عن أبي هريرة ﵁.