commits adultery with the wife of a man fighting in Allah’s cause, that man will be allowed, on the Day of Resurrection, to take as many of the adulterer’s good deeds as he wishes.”

The two Sahīh collections also relate that Ibn Masʿūd said:

“I asked, ‘O Messenger of Allah, which sin is greatest?’ He replied, ‘To set up a rival to Allah, although He created you.’ I asked, ‘Then which?’ He replied, ‘To kill your child for fear that he will share your food.’ I asked, ‘Then which?’ He replied, ‘To commit adultery with your neighbour’s wife.’”

He specifically mentioned adultery with a neighbour’s wife, showing that the husband has a right in this matter. Wronging a neighbour is graver because people need to live alongside one another.

And if it is said: “The woman’s husband may be unable to guard against this, and a neighbour has a claim upon him beyond that of a stranger—how much worse, then, if he wrongs him through his wife! Neighbours trust one another, so this involves greater injustice than other cases. A neighbour is obliged to protect the other man’s wife from others; how, then, can he himself corrupt her?”

Since adultery with a married woman is prohibited on two grounds, each independently sufficient to establish its prohibition—like the flesh of a dead pig—Joseph explained his refusal by invoking the husband’s right, although either ground alone would have restrained him. His invoking the husband’s right had several benefits.

One is that this is a restraint the woman understands and accepts as an excuse for his refusal, unlike Allah Most High’s right, since she does not know Allah’s punishment for this.

Another is that this may deter the woman, leading her to respect her husband’s right, either