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The enforcement of the ḥadd is an expiation for the offender’s sin; this is the unanimous position of the Muslims. It is related that the Prophet ﷺ magnified the station of this repentant woman, saying, “If her repentance were divided among seventy people of Madinah, it would suffice them all.” The figure is not meant literally—the scope of her repentance is wider than any number can convey.
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The scholars have said: It is preferable for one who falls into a sin to repent privately to Allah, make that repentance sincere, fill his time with obedience and good works, and keep away from places of corruption and bad companions. As for this female Companion’s public confession, it arose from intense anger at her own soul that had urged her to evil, and from her eagerness that her sin be expiated without delay. That is what moved her to confess and to surrender herself to be purified by the ḥadd.
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The guilt of a sin is erased by sincere repentance; this is likewise an agreed-upon principle among the Muslims, for “the one who repents of a sin is like one who never committed it.”
Scholarly disagreement:
The jurists differ as to whether establishing the ḥadd for zinā requires the confession to be repeated four times or whether a single confession is sufficient.
• The first view—held by Imams Abū Ḥanīfah, Aḥmad, and the majority of scholars—is that four separate admissions are necessary. Their proof is the report in both Ṣaḥīḥs from Abū Hurayrah: “A man from among the Muslims came to the Messenger of Allah ﷺ and said, ‘I have committed adultery.’ The Prophet turned away from him. The man moved round to face him and said, ‘Messenger of Allah, I have committed adultery,’ but the Prophet turned away again. This happened four times, after which the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said, ‘Take him away and stone him.’”
• The second view—adopted by Imams Mālik, al-Shāfiʿī, Abū Thawr, and Ibn al-Munḏir—is that a single admission suffices. They cite the narration recorded in both Ṣaḥīḥs from Abū Hurayrah and Zayd ibn Khālid al-Juhani: the Prophet ﷺ said, “O Unays, go to this man’s wife; if she confesses, stone her.” Unays went to her, she confessed, and the Messenger of Allah ﷺ ordered that she be stoned.