Al-Siyasa al-Shar'iyya - Ibn Taimiya - (الكتاب/214)

Al-Siyasa al-Shar'iyyaIbn Taimiya

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When a wrong against a person’s honor is of a kind for which no retaliation [is available] (1), such as a false accusation of fornication or another offense, the punishment is the prescribed penalty when it involves such an accusation and discretionary punishment otherwise.

As for the prescribed penalty (2) for false accusation of fornication, it is established by the Quran, the sunnah, and consensus. Allah Most High says:

“Those who accuse chaste women and then fail to produce four witnesses—flog them with eighty lashes and never thereafter accept their testimony. It is they who are defiantly disobedient. (4) Except those who subsequently repent and mend their ways; surely Allah is All-Forgiving, Most Merciful.” [al-Nūr: 4–5] (3).

(4) This penalty—the prescribed penalty for false accusation of fornication—is a right belonging to the person falsely accused. By agreement of the jurists, it may therefore be enforced only at his request. If he waives it, it lapses according to the majority of scholars, including Mālik, al-Shāfiī, and Ahmad in the position most widely reported from him, because it is predominantly a right owed to the individual, as in cases of retaliation and property rights.

(1) This addition is necessary for the passage to read coherently. (2) See above (p. 144). In the remaining manuscripts, the passage reads: “If slander and similar offenses are not subject to retaliation in kind, they are punishable in some other manner. One such punishment is the established hadd (legally prescribed punishment) for qadhf (false accusation of illicit sexual conduct) [Zā: ‘the prescribed punishment of the accuser for making a false accusation’] …” (3) In the remaining manuscripts, this is followed by the statement: “If a free man accuses a chaste person of zinā (unlawful sexual intercourse) or sodomy, he is subject to the hadd [Zā: ‘flogging’] for qadhf, namely eighty lashes. If he accuses him of anything else, he is punished with ta‘zīr (discretionary punishment).” The opening of the chapter conveys the same meaning as this statement. (4) From here to the end of the chapter, the original contains additional sentences, phrases, and lines not found in the remaining manuscripts. I have not indicated them at every occurrence, so as not to burden the text, considering this general notice sufficient.

فصل وإذا كانت المَظْلَمة في العِرْض مما لا قصاص [فيه] (١) كالقذف وغيره؛ فيه العقوبة بالحدّ في القذف، وبالتعزير في غيره. أما حدُّ (٢) القذف؛ فإنه ثابت بالكتاب والسنة والإجماع، قال الله تعالى: ﴿وَالَّذِينَ يَرْمُونَ الْمُحْصَنَاتِ ثُمَّ لَمْ يَأْتُوا بِأَرْبَعَةِ شُهَدَاءَ فَاجْلِدُوهُمْ ثَمَانِينَ جَلْدَةً وَلَا تَقْبَلُوا لَهُمْ شَهَادَةً أَبَدًا وَأُولَئِكَ هُمُ الْفَاسِقُونَ (٤) إِلَّا الَّذِينَ تَابُوا مِنْ بَعْدِ ذَلِكَ وَأَصْلَحُوا فَإِنَّ اللَّهَ غَفُورٌ رَحِيمٌ﴾ [النور: ٤ - ٥] (٣). (٤) وهذا الحد ــ حد القذف ــ مُسْتحقه المقذوف، فلا يُستوفى إلا بطلبه باتفاق الفقهاء، فإن عفا عنه سقط عند جمهور العلماء، كمالك والشافعي وأحمد في المشهور عنه؛ لأنَّ المُغَلَّب فيه حق الآدمي، كالقصاص والأموال.

(١) زيادة لازمة لاستقامة السياق. (٢) انظر ما سبق (ص ١٤٤). والعبارة في بقية النسخ: «وإذا كانت الفرية ونحوها لا قصاص فيها، ففيها العقوبة بغير ذلك، فمنه حد القذف [ظ: القاذف للقذف] الثابت ... ». (٣) بعده في باقي النسخ عبارة: «فإذا رمى الحرُّ محصنًا بالزنا أو التلوُّط فعليه حد [ظ: جلد] القذف، وهو ثمانون جلدة، وإن رماه بغير ذلك عُوقِب تعزيرًا» وما في صدر الفصل هو معنى هذه العبارة. (٤) من هنا إلى أخر الفصل يزيد الأصل على بقية النسخ بجمل وعبارات وأسطر، لم أشر إليها في كل موضع حتى لا تثقل النص، واكتفاءً بهذا الإجمال.