950 – ʿAbd Allāh ibn ʿUmar (may Allah be pleased with both of them) reported:

“A certain man came and asked, ‘O Messenger of Allah! Tell me—if one of us were to find his wife committing an abomination, what is he to do? If he speaks, he utters something momentous; and if he keeps silent, he remains silent over something equally momentous!’ The Prophet gave him no answer.

Later the man returned and said, ‘I have now been afflicted by the very matter I asked you about.’ Thereupon Allah revealed the verses in Sūrah al-Nūr. The Prophet recited them to him, admonished him, reminded him, and told him that the punishment of this world is lighter than the punishment of the Hereafter. The man said, ‘No—by the One who sent you with the truth, I have not lied about her.’

The Prophet then summoned the woman, admonished her likewise, and she said, ‘No—by the One who sent you with the truth, he is lying.’ The Prophet began with the man, who testified four times by Allah, then proceeded with the woman, and finally separated the two of them.”

Reported by Muslim. (1)

Vocabulary:
• arāʾayta: the initial hamzah is interrogative, the final tāʾ addresses the listener; among the Arabs it means “inform me.”
• fāḥishah: the feminine of fāḥish, anything vile or repugnant in word or deed; here it specifically denotes the abomination of adultery, so called because it reaches the utmost degree of ugliness and enormity.
• ibtulīt: from balāʾ (trial, ordeal), meaning “I have been tested with this matter.”
• Punishment in this world: for the man, the prescribed penalty for slander; for the woman, imprisonment, because she is not subjected to the legal punishment merely