against an unrelated woman, the fixed punishment is carried out against him unless he produces four witnesses to her adultery, or the woman accused admits it, in which case the fixed punishment for slander is waived. In the case of his wife, however, the punishment is waived if either of these two is established, or if he undertakes the mutual imprecation. Thus, the mutual imprecation in accusing one’s wife is equivalent to legal proof, for when a man sees another man with his wife, he may be unable to establish proof against him, yet unable to bear the disgrace. Allah therefore made the mutual imprecation evidence of his truthfulness, saying: “And the testimony of one of them shall be four testimonies by Allah that he is surely of the truthful.” If the husband establishes proof of her adultery, or if she admits to adultery, both the fixed punishment and the mutual imprecation are waived from him—unless there is a child whose lineage he wishes to disclaim, in which case he may undertake the mutual imprecation in order to disclaim it.

When the judge wishes to administer the mutual imprecation between them, he begins by having the man stand and prompting him with its wording. He says: “Say: ‘I testify by Allah that I am surely telling the truth in accusing so-and-so of adultery.’” If he has accused her of adultery with a particular man, he must specifically name that man in the mutual imprecation; and if he has accused her with a group of men, he must name them. The husband then repeats what the judge prompts him to say. If there is a child or a pregnancy whose lineage he wishes to disclaim, he says: “This child, or this pregnancy, is the result of adultery and is not mine.” In the fifth oath, he says: “May the curse of Allah be upon me if I am lying in what I have accused so-and-so of.” If he utters any of these statements without the judge’s prompting, it is not counted.

Once the man has completed the mutual imprecation, separation takes place between him and his wife; she becomes permanently unlawful to him, the child’s lineage is disclaimed from him, the fixed punishment for slander is waived from him, and the fixed punishment for adultery becomes due upon the woman. If she is legally chaste, she is stoned; and if she is not legally chaste, she is flogged and banished. These are five rulings, all of which are connected to the husband’s mutual imprecation.

“And it will avert the punishment from her if she bears witness four times by Allah that he is surely of the liars (8), and the fifth oath is that the wrath of Allah be upon her if he is of the truthful (9).”

His saying: “And it will avert” means, it will repel. “And it will avert the punishment from her if she bears witness four times by Allah that he is surely of the liars, and the fifth oath is that the wrath of Allah be upon her if he is of the truthful.” By “punishment,” He means the fixed legal punishment, as He says at the beginning of the surah: “And let a group of the believers witness their punishment”—that is, their fixed punishment. The meaning of the verse is that when the husband undertakes the mutual imprecation, the fixed punishment for adultery becomes due upon the woman. If it becomes due upon her through his mutual imprecation and she wishes to avert it from herself, she undertakes the mutual imprecation as well. She stands and, after being prompted by the judge, testifies four times by Allah that he is surely lying in what he has accused her of. In the fifth oath, she says: “May the wrath of Allah be upon me if my husband is telling the truth in what he has accused me of.”

Only one ruling is connected to her mutual imprecation: the fixed punishment is waived from her. If the husband establishes proof of her adultery, however, the punishment is not waived from her through the mutual imprecation. According to the proponents of legal reasoning, no fixed punishment is due upon a man who accuses his wife; rather, the consequence of his accusation is the mutual imprecation. If he does not undertake it, he is detained until he does. If the husband undertakes the mutual imprecation and the woman refuses to do so, she is detained until she undertakes it.