If someone slanders a person who is not present, the ḥadd is not enforced until the one slandered appears and presses the charge, or it is proven that he has done so while still absent.
The language of slander falls into two categories:
- Explicit terms that can mean nothing but slander; in such cases no alternative explanation is accepted.
- Indirect allusions that might convey slander or something else; if the speaker clarifies that he intended another meaning, that clarification is accepted.
Explicit terms include insults such as: “You fornicator,” “You sodomite,” or “You adulterer.” Indirect allusions include expressions like: “You qaḥbah (whore),” “You fājirah (immoral woman),” or “You khabīthah (vile one).” If the slanderer says, “By qaḥbah I only meant that she affects lewdness,” or “By fājirah I meant that she disobeys her husband in matters where obedience is due,” or “By khabīthah I was referring to her ill nature,” this explanation is accepted and the ḥadd is not imposed, because the wording is ambiguous and the ḥudūd are averted whenever there is doubt.
If someone slanders a group of people for whom fornication is unimaginable, or maligns the inhabitants of an entire town, the ḥadd is not applied; instead, he receives a discretionary punishment (taʿzīr). His statement is undeniably false and therefore brings no disgrace upon them; the taʿzīr is imposed solely to prevent the use of such ugly words and obscene insults—an act of disobedience that merits discipline even if none of the offended parties files a complaint.
Whoever slanders any prophet falls into disbelief, for that constitutes apostasy from Islam. Shaykh al-Islam Ibn Taymiyyah said, “Slandering the Prophet’s wives is like slandering the Prophet himself—that is, it carries the same ruling of apostasy for the slanderer.”