the prescribed punishment. The accuser is either free or a slave. If free, his punishment is eighty lashes; if a slave, forty lashes, according to Mālik and those who share his view. The disagreement on this matter and the reasoning behind each position have already been discussed. Accordingly, puberty in the accuser is marked by the onset of wet dreams in males or menstruation in females. In the person accused, it is marked by wet dreams in males and the physical capacity for intercourse in females, according to Mālik’s position as transmitted by Ibn al-Qāsim. There is disagreement on this matter. Muhammad ibn al-Jahm and Muhammad ibn Abd al-Hakam said: No prescribed punishment is due upon someone who accuses a young girl who has not reached menstruation.
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According to Mālik’s school, the prescribed punishment for an accusation of adultery is incurred in two cases: first, accusing someone of adultery; and second, denying his lineage, even if his mother is a slave woman or an unbeliever. In either case, this may be done explicitly or through a clear insinuation equivalent to an explicit statement, as we have explained. Ibrāhīm al-Nakha‘ī said: No prescribed punishment is due for denying someone’s lineage if his mother is a slave woman or a Christian. This is also what follows by analogy from the positions of al-Shāfi‘ī and Abū Hanīfa.
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The prescribed punishment is established in either of two ways: first, the accuser’s own admission that he made the accusation; and second, the testimony of two upright male witnesses to it.
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The scholars of our school disagree over admitting women’s testimony in such cases, establishing the accusation by an oath together with a single witness, or requiring the accuser to swear an oath on the strength of a single witness—or merely on the basis of a claim when there is no witness. This disagreement follows the same lines as their disagreement over admitting women’s testimony concerning intentional bodily injuries and establishing the right to retaliation by an oath together with a single witness.