Tawḍīḥ al-Aḥkām - Abd Allah al-Bassam - (6/222)

Tawḍīḥ al-AḥkāmAbd Allah al-Bassam

Ibn Ḥajar says in Fath al-Bārī: “The Messenger of Allah ﷺ pursued verification to the utmost degree, and this occurred only after the man had confessed four times—clearly confirming that the number is a condition.”

5 – The prescribed penalty for a previously married adulterer is to stone him with rocks until he dies, and no pit is to be dug for him beforehand.

6 – The presence of the ruler or his deputy is not a prerequisite for carrying out the ḥadd, though it is preferable that one of them attend to prevent injustice and any tampering with the limits set by Allah, Exalted is He.

7 – It is permissible to execute the ḥudūd in the funeral-prayer area; in the early days they designated a special place for the prayer over the dead.

8 – The ḥadd serves as expiation for the sin for which it is applied. This is a point of consensus and is stated explicitly in his ﷺ saying: “Whoever commits any of those acts and is punished for it in this world, that punishment is his expiation.”

9 – The sin incurred by acts of disobedience is erased by sincere repentance; this too is unanimously accepted among Muslims.

10 – The ruler or judge should initially turn away from a person who confesses to adultery, for he may have done something that does not actually entail the ḥadd while believing that it does; the ḥudūd are averted in the presence of doubts.

11 – This episode represents a lofty virtue of Maʿiz (may Allah be pleased with him): he came forward of his own accord, motivated by anger for the sake of Allah and a desire to purify himself, even though the Prophet ﷺ turned away from him and prompted him with words that could have absolved him of the penalty.

Difference of the scholars

The scholars have disagreed: is it a condition that the confession to adultery be made four times or not?

Imam Abū Ḥanīfah, Imam Aḥmad, and the majority of scholars—including al-Ḥakam ibn ʿUtaybah and Ibn Abī Laylā—hold that four confessions are indispensable. They base this on the present ḥadīth, for the Prophet ﷺ did not carry out the ḥadd on Maʿiz until he had borne witness against himself four times; they also draw an analogy with testimony to adultery, which is not accepted from fewer than four witnesses.

They do not stipulate that the confessions be made in separate sittings, unlike the Ḥanafīs.

قال في "فتح الباري": فقد بالغ ﷺ في الاستثبات غاية المبالغة، وهذا وقع بعد إقراره أربع مرات، فهو يؤكد اشتراط العدد. ٥ - أنَّ حد المحصَن الزاني رجمه بالحجارة حتى يموت، ولا يحفر له عند الرجم. ٦ - أنَّه لا يشترط في إقامة الحد حضور الإمام أو نائبه، والأولى حضور أحدهما؛ ليُؤمَن الحيْف، والتلاعب بحدود الله تعالى. ٧ - جواز إقامة الحدود في مصلى الجنائز، وكانوا في الأول يجعلون للصلاة على الجنائز مصلى خاصًّا. ٨ - أنَّ الحد كفارة للمعصية التي أقيم الحد لها، وهو إجماع، وقد جاء صريحًا في قوله ﵊: "من فعل شيئًا من ذلك، فعوقب به في الدنيا، فهو كفارته". ٩ - أنَّ إثم المعاصي يسقط بالتوبة النصوح، وهو إجماع المسلمين أيضًا. ١٠ - إعراض الإمام والحاكم عن المقر على نفسه بالزنا، لعلَّه فعل ما لا يوجب الحد، فظنه موجبًا، والحدود تدرأ بالشُّبهات. ١١ - هذه المنقبة العظيمة لماعز ﵁ إذْ جاء بنفسه؛ غضبًا لله تعالى وتطهيرًا لها، مع وجود الإعراض عنه، وتلقينه ما يسقط عنه الحد. * خلاف العلماء: اختلف العلماء: هل يشترط الإقرار بالزنا أربع مرات، أو لا؟ ذهب الإمامان: أبو حنيفة، وأحمد، وجمهور العلماء، ومنهم الحكم بن عتيبة، وابن أبي ليلى، إلى: أنَّه لابد من الإقرار أربع مرات، مستدلين بهذا الحديث الذي معنا، فإنَّه لم يُقِم النبي ﷺ على "ماعز" الحد، إلاَّ بعد أن شهد على نفسه أربع مرات، وقياسًا على الشهادة بالزنا فلا يقبل إلاَّ أربعة شهود. ولا يشترط أن تكون الإقرارات في مجالس، خلافًا للحنفية.