Then, on the fifth oath she adds, “And upon me be the wrath of Allah if he is telling the truth,” or, if she prefers, “if he is indeed among those who speak the truth in what he has said.” Should she wish, she may instead say, “I testify by Allah that I have not committed adultery,” repeating this four times, and on the fifth she says, “May the wrath of Allah be upon me if he is among those who speak the truth.”

If the woman refuses to swear, the ḥadd is carried out on her: if the marriage has not been consummated she is flogged, but if he has had intercourse with her she is stoned.

According to those jurists who hold that liʿān becomes obligatory merely by the husband’s accusation of adultery, he says in each of the first four testimonies, “I testify by Allah that I am surely truthful in accusing so-and-so of adultery,” and in the fifth, “Upon me be the curse of Allah if I am lying in what I have accused so-and-so of adultery.”

The wife, for her part, says four times, “I testify by Allah that he is surely lying in the adultery with which he has charged me,” and on the fifth, “Upon me be the wrath of Allah if he is truthful in the adultery with which he has charged me.” In every case the husband speaks before the wife.

If the wife refuses to swear, she receives the ḥadd: if the marriage has not been consummated she is flogged, and if it has been consummated she is stoned—the same ruling applying if she had already become muḥṣan through a previous husband.

Should the wife perform liʿān before the husband, and the husband then performs his liʿān, the judge’s pronouncement of separation does not take effect until the woman stands and completes her oaths after him. Likewise, if the judge separates them after the husband has completed his liʿān but before the wife has sworn, no separation results, for the liʿān is still incomplete.

Anyone who accuses his wife of adultery before the liʿān has been duly completed is subjected to the full prescribed flogging.