the fourth, but he hesitated and said, “I will not testify to adultery. I only witnessed something objectionable: I saw a man on top of a woman, moving as one who has intercourse, yet I cannot swear it was fornication.” ʿUmar therefore ordered the first three to be flogged eighty lashes, for it had become clear that they had lied, and he released the fourth.

Human honour is one of the most sacred of rights. Hence, as you have heard, Allah the Exalted says, “As for those who accuse chaste women and then fail to produce four witnesses—flog them with eighty lashes” (24:4): this is the first punishment. “And never thereafter accept their testimony” (24:4): this is the second. “For they indeed are the defiantly sinful” (24:4): this is the third. He then says, “Except for those who repent thereafter and mend their ways; for Allah is All-Forgiving, Most Merciful” (24:5). That is to say, they will no longer be classed as flagrant sinners provided they repent and put things right; it is not enough merely to say, “I repent,” until we see whether the person has truly reformed.

Because of the seriousness of this matter, it was fitting that the Prophet ﷺ should stress it in that magnificent sermon, before the Companions, on the Day of Sacrifice at Mina, declaring: “Your blood, your property, and your honour are inviolable for you, just as the sanctity of this day of yours, in this month of yours, in this city of yours.”

He then said, “Beware—do not turn after I am gone into unbelievers who strike one another’s necks.” For were the Muslims to begin killing one another, they would thereby become disbelievers, since only a disbeliever regards a Muslim’s blood as lawful. A Muslim can never raise a weapon against his brother; only a non-believer would do so. Thus the Prophet ﷺ described Muslims who fight one another as unbelievers, saying: “Beware—do not revert after me to unbelievers, each of you striking the neck of the other.”