Al-Sharḥ al-Mumtiʿ - Ibn al-'Uthaymin - (14/282)

Al-Sharḥ al-MumtiʿIbn al-'Uthaymin

His statement, “He is to be given eighty lashes if he is free”: “is to be given lashes” is a past-tense passive verb. So who administers the lashes? We have previously mentioned that no one carries out the prescribed punishments except the ruler or his deputy. This is the well-known position of the school, and it is correct.

Some scholars have said that the prescribed punishment for false accusation is carried out by the person who was falsely accused against the accuser, if we regard it as a right belonging to the falsely accused. But if we regard it as a right belonging to Allah, then the one who carries it out is the ruler. The disagreement concerning this will come later.

His statement, “He is to be given eighty lashes if he is free,” means that if the accuser is free, he is to be given eighty lashes. This is the first category of the accuser’s punishment. The evidence is the saying of Allah Most High:

“And those who accuse chaste women, then do not produce four witnesses—flog them with eighty lashes, and never accept their testimony. They are indeed the defiantly disobedient.” [al-Nur: 4]

Allah’s words, “chaste women,” are a sound feminine plural. Is this specific to women, or is it general? And if it is general, is its generality derived from its wording or its meaning? The apparent sense of the noble verse is that it is specific to women. However, some scholars say that “chaste women” is an adjective qualifying an omitted noun, and they differed over what that noun is to be understood as. Some said: “the chaste persons”; others said: “the chaste private parts.” It would then be general, encompassing both men and women. They cited as evidence the saying of Allah Most High:

“And she who guarded her chastity.”

Thus, the private part is protected. Yet there is no doubt that this interpretation runs contrary to the apparent meaning of the verse, and that its apparent meaning is women. However, men are the same as women in this regard by scholarly consensus. Its generality, therefore, is one of meaning, since there is no relevant distinction between men and women in this matter.

In this verse, Allah has attached three consequences to false accusation:

The first: flogging.

وقوله: «جلد ثمانين جلدة إن كان حراً» «جُلد» فعل ماضٍ مبني للمجهول، فمن الجالد؟ سبق لنا أنه لا يقيم الحدود إلا الإمام أو نائبه، وهذا هو المشهور من المذهب، وهو الحق. وقال بعض أهل العلم: إن حد القذف يقيمه المقذوف على القاذف، إذا جعلناه حقاً للمقذوف، وإذا جعلناه حقّاً لله فالذي يقيمه هو الإمام وسيأتي الخلاف فيه. وقوله: «جلد ثمانين جلدة إن كان حراً» أي: إن كان القاذف حراً فإنه يجلد ثمانين، وهذا هو القسم الأول من عقوبة القاذف، والدليل قوله تعالى: ﴿وَالَّذِينَ يَرْمُونَ الْمُحْصَنَاتِ ثُمَّ لَمْ يَأْتُوا بِأَرْبَعَةِ شُهَدَاءَ فَاجْلِدُوهُمْ ثَمَانِينَ جَلْدَةً وَلَا تَقْبَلُوا لَهُمْ شَهَادَةً أَبَدًا وَأُولَئِكَ هُمُ الْفَاسِقُونَ *﴾ [النور:٤]، فقوله تعالى: ﴿الْمُحْصَنَاتِ﴾ جمع مؤنث سالم، فهل هي خاصة بالنساء أو عامة؟ وهل العموم باللفظ أو بالمعنى؟ ظاهر الآية الكريمة أنها خاصة بالنساء، ولكن بعض أهل العلم يقول: إن المحصنات صفة لموصوف محذوف، واختلفوا في تقديره، فقال بعضهم: الأنفس المحصنات، وقال آخرون: الفروج المحصنات، فيكون عاماً يشمل الرجال والنساء، واستدلوا بقول الله تعالى: ﴿وَالَّتِي أَحْصَنَتْ فَرْجَهَا﴾ فالفرج إذاً محصن، لكن لا شك أن هذا تأويل مخالف لظاهر الآية، وأن الظاهر أن المراد بها النساء، ولكن الرجال في هذا مثل النساء بالإجماع، فيكون عمومها عموماً معنوياً؛ وذلك لعدم الفارق بين الرجال والنساء في هذا. في هذه الآية رتب الله على القذف ثلاثة أمور: الأول: الجلد.