so Uwaymir ⦗35/b⦘ came to Asim and said, “I have seen Sharik ibn al-Sahma lying atop my wife Khawlah.” Asim exclaimed, “To Allah we belong and to Him we shall return,” and came to the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, on the following Friday. He said, “O Messenger of Allah, how swiftly I have been tested by the very question I asked last Friday concerning my own family!” He then informed him of what had occurred. Uwaymir, Khawlah, and Sharik were all Asim’s paternal cousins.

The Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, summoned them all and said to Uwaymir, “Fear Allah regarding your wife and cousin, and do not falsely accuse her.” He replied, “O Messenger of Allah, I swear by Allah that I saw Sharik lying atop her. I have not approached her for four months, and she is pregnant by someone other than me.” The Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said to the woman, “Fear Allah, and say nothing but what you have done.” She said, “O Messenger of Allah, Uwaymir is a jealous man. He saw Sharik and me sitting up for a long time at night and talking, and his jealousy drove him to say what he has said.” The Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, then said to Sharik, “What do you say?” He replied, “What the woman has said is a lie.”

Then Allah revealed: “And those who accuse their wives...” The Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, ordered that the call be made: “The prayer is to be held in congregation.” He led the afternoon prayer, then said to Uwaymir, “Stand.” He stood and said, “I testify by Allah that Khawlah is indeed an adulteress, and that I am telling the truth.” In the second oath, he said, “I testify that I saw Sharik lying atop her, and that I am telling the truth.” In the third, he said, “I testify by Allah that she is pregnant by someone other than me, and that I am telling the truth.” In the fourth, he said, “I testify by Allah that I have not approached her for four months, and that I am telling the truth.” Then, in the fifth, he said, “May the curse of Allah be upon Uwaymir”—meaning himself—“if he is lying in what he has said.”

He was then ordered to sit, and Khawlah was told, “Stand.” She stood and said, “I testify by Allah that I am not an adulteress and that Uwaymir is indeed lying.” In the second oath, she said, “I testify by Allah that he did not see Sharik lying atop me, and that he is indeed lying.” In the third, she said, “I testify by Allah that I am pregnant by him, and that he is indeed lying.” In the fourth, she said, “I testify by Allah that he has never seen me committing any indecency, and that he is indeed lying.” Then, in the fifth, she said, “May the wrath of Allah be upon Khawlah”—meaning herself—“if he is telling the truth.”

The Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, separated them and said, “Were it not for these oaths, I would have had a course of action in their case.” Then he said, “Watch for her delivery. If she gives birth to a child who is [light-reddish in complexion] (1), [broad-bodied] (2), tending toward a dark complexion, then he is Sharik’s. But if she gives birth to a child who is ash-grey, curly-haired, camel-built, and thick-calved, then he belongs to someone other than the man with whom she was accused.” Ibn Abbas said, “She gave birth to a child who resembled Sharik more than any of Allah’s creation.” (6)

As for the legal ruling of the verse: if a man accuses his wife, the consequence is the same as when he accuses a woman unrelated to him: the fixed legal punishment becomes due upon him if she is legally chaste, or a discretionary punishment if she is not legally chaste. The means of avoiding these two consequences, however, differ. Thus, where he makes an accusation