Chapter on the Rulings of Liʿān

Allah, exalted be He, has forbidden qadhf—that is, hurling an accusation of sexual immorality at an innocent person—and has threatened the offender with the severest punishment. He says, “Indeed, those who accuse chaste, unsuspecting, believing women are cursed in this world and the Hereafter; for them is a tremendous torment on the Day when their tongues, their hands, and their feet will testify against them for what they used to do. On that Day Allah will give them their true recompense in full, and they will come to know that Allah is the Manifest Truth” (Q 24:23-25).

He has also prescribed that the slanderer be flogged with eighty lashes if he cannot produce four witnesses who attest to the truth of his claim, and that he be deemed a flagrant sinner whose testimony is never again accepted—unless he repents and mends his ways. Allah says, “Those who accuse chaste women and then fail to bring four witnesses—flog them with eighty lashes and never accept their testimony thereafter, for they are defiantly disobedient, except for those who repent after that and set things right; surely Allah is All-Forgiving, Most Merciful” (Q 24:4-5).

Such is the ruling when a man slanders someone other than his own wife: these stringent measures are applied to him. If, however, he accuses his own wife of adultery, another avenue is open to him. He may substitute those penalties with what is called liʿān—a series of solemn oaths sworn by both spouses, coupled with invoking Allah’s curse and wrath—as will be detailed shortly.