the Messenger of Allah—may Allah bless him and grant him peace—the accusation was put to her, but she denied it. The Messenger of Allah said, ‘Allah knows that one of you is lying. Will either of you repent?’
Hilāl said, ‘O Messenger of Allah, may my father and mother be sacrificed for you! I have spoken nothing but the truth.’
The Messenger of Allah—may Allah bless him and grant him peace—said, ‘Have them perform mutual imprecation.’ He then said to Hilāl, ‘Hilāl, testify.’ He testified four times by Allah that he was telling the truth. Before the fifth testimony, he was told, ‘Hilāl, fear Allah! Allah’s punishment is more severe than people’s punishment. This is the decisive testimony that will bring punishment upon you.’
Hilāl replied, ‘By Allah, Allah will not punish me for this, just as the Messenger of Allah did not have me flogged for it.’ He then testified a fifth time that Allah’s curse should be upon him if he was lying.
She was then told, ‘Testify.’ She testified four times by Allah that he was lying. Before the fifth testimony, she was told, ‘Fear Allah! Allah’s punishment is more severe than people’s punishment. This is the decisive testimony that will bring punishment upon you.’ She hesitated for a while, until we thought she would retract her denial. Then she said, ‘By Allah, I will not bring lasting disgrace upon my people.’ She testified a fifth time that Allah’s wrath should be upon her if he was telling the truth.
The Messenger of Allah—may Allah bless him and grant him peace—then separated them and ruled that the child should belong to her and should not be ascribed to any father, and that neither she nor her child should be slandered.”
It is also reported:
“When the Messenger of Allah—may Allah bless him and grant him peace—conducted mutual imprecation between al-Ajlānī and his wife, he said to them, ‘Your reckoning is with Allah. One of you is lying.’ He then told the husband, ‘You have no further right over her.’
He asked, ‘O Messenger of Allah, what about my money?’
He replied, ‘You have no claim to it. If you told the truth about her, it was in return for the marital intimacy you lawfully enjoyed with her. If you lied about her, you have even less right to it.’
Then he said, ‘Watch what child she bears. If she bears a dark-skinned child with very dark eyes and large buttocks, I can only consider him to have told the truth about her. But if she bears a reddish child, like a little desert lizard, I can only consider him to have lied.’
The narrator said: She bore a child matching the unwelcome description. The Messenger of Allah—may Allah bless him and grant him peace—then said, ‘Were it not for what has already been laid down in the Book of Allah, I would have dealt with her very differently.’”
Section
Judgment by mutual imprecation is obligatory in accordance with what the Quran prescribes and what the Messenger—may Allah bless him and grant him peace—ruled. Allah revealed it in His Book and instituted it as a law for His servants out of mercy towards them. Husbands are not in the same position as other people, upon whom Allah has imposed flogging for accusing chaste women without producing four witnesses. Such people suffer no personal harm from what they have witnessed, whereas a husband