and flog him—he was an unmarried man. The Prophet ﷺ then asked, “Who is the woman involved with you?” He replied, “So-and-so.” The Prophet summoned her, and she said, “Messenger of Allah, he has lied about me; by Allah, I do not know him.” The Prophet ﷺ asked, “Have you any witnesses?” He answered, “Messenger of Allah, I have no witness.” He therefore ordered that the man be given the ḥadd for slander: eighty lashes.

8 – Shaykh Muḥammad ibn Ibrāhīm Āl al-Shaykh said: The statement, “There is no excuse for one who has confessed,” is related, though I do not know its source. Its meaning, however, is sound, and its apparent purport according to all the scholars is that such a confession is binding upon the one who makes it in respect of the right he has acknowledged.

I say: Al-Sakhāwī wrote in al-Maqāṣid al-Ḥasanah about this ḥadith: our teacher—meaning Ibn Ḥajar—said, “It has no basis, and its meaning is not wholly correct when taken without qualification.”

9 – The Conference of Chief Judges stated: If, during interrogation that involves detention, beating, or threats, the accused confesses, and that confession is corroborated—such as the very stolen item being found in his possession, or his indicating its location, or describing how it was taken from a secure place—then the confession is accepted and he is held liable by it. If, however, no evidence arises to confirm the confession, and it was obtained through torture or coercion, such a confession is deemed invalid.

10 – Shaykh al-Islām said: Rights are of two categories:
• rights due to Allah;
• and rights due to human beings.

As for Allah’s rights, one condition for enforcing them is that the confessor persist in his confession until the ḥadd is fully carried out; if he retracts, the punishment is suspended. This is the position of the four Imams, al-Thawrī, and Isḥāq.

As for the rights of human beings, they are based on exact restitution. Therefore, once a legally competent person freely confesses, his retraction is not accepted, nor may he plead error or forgetfulness after the confession, which is regarded as one of the strongest forms of proof. Hence, the value of the stolen property is charged to whoever confesses to theft, even if he confesses only once.