he repents. No fixed degree or manner is prescribed for this, except that it must deter him and lead to the intended aim: his repentance and reform. Allah, Exalted is He, has made leaving him alone conditional upon these two things: repentance and reform. If they are absent, the command to leave him alone cannot apply; rather, he is to be subjected to distress.

The verse establishes the obligation to cause distress to the two among us who commit indecency, and the obligation to cease causing distress to anyone who repents and reforms. As for someone who repents by ceasing to commit indecency but has not reformed, the jurists have disagreed over whether righteous conduct is a condition for accepting repentance. There are two opinions on this within the school of Ahmad and elsewhere.

This resembles the words of Allah, Exalted is He:

“When the sacred months have passed, kill the polytheists wherever you find them,”

through to His words:

“But if they repent, establish prayer, and give zakah, then let them go their way.”

He commanded fighting them, then made letting them go conditional upon repentance and righteous deeds—namely, establishing prayer and giving zakah. Nevertheless, once they pronounce the two testimonies of faith, it becomes obligatory to desist from attacking them. If they then pray and give zakah, well and good; otherwise, they are subsequently punished for failing to do so. For it is prescribed to refrain from causing distress to someone who has begun to repent, while the matter remains contingent upon his completing that repentance.

Similarly, it is prescribed to refrain from causing distress to someone who repents of indecency pending his reform. If he reforms, it becomes obligatory to cease causing him distress. If he does not reform, refraining from causing him distress is not obligatory; rather, causing him distress is permissible or obligatory.

This verse is among those cited as evidence for discretionary punishment through causing distress. Although distress is