of a severe kind until he safeguards his slave women. The least punishment is that he be shunned: he should not be greeted, prayer should not be offered behind him when another prayer leader is available, he should not be called upon as a witness, and he should not be entrusted with any position of authority whatsoever. Whoever regards this as lawful is an unbeliever and an apostate. He must be called upon to repent; if he does not repent, he is to be executed as an apostate, and his Muslim heirs do not inherit from him. If he is unaware that it is forbidden, he must be informed until the proof has been established against him, for this is among the matters unanimously agreed to be forbidden.

He—may Allah Most High have mercy on him—was asked:

A man swore to his son that, if the son committed a wrongful act, he would carry out the prescribed punishment against him. The son confessed to his father, who gave him one hundred lashes, leaving a year’s banishment outstanding. May an expiation be offered in place of the year’s banishment?

He replied:

If he carries out the banishment by confining him, even in the father’s house, he has fulfilled his oath, even if the son is left free and unshackled within a designated place. Neither shackling him nor placing him somewhere dark is required. Allah knows best.

He was asked:

If someone becomes liable to the prescribed punishment for unlawful intercourse but repents before it is carried out, does his repentance absolve him of that punishment?