What Do the Verses About Accusing One's Wife Teach About Li'an?
ما معنى قوله تعالى :(وَالَّذِينَ يَرْمُونَ أَزْوَاجَهُمْ وَلَمْ يَكُن لَّهُمْ شُهَدَاءُ إِلَّا أَنفُسُهُمْ فَشَهَادَةُ أَحَدِهِمْ أَرْبَعُ شَهَادَاتٍ بِاللَّهِ ۙ إِنَّهُ لَمِنَ الصَّادِقِينَ ) ؟ ما الذي ترشد إليه هذه الآية؟
What is the meaning of Allah’s words: "And those who accuse their wives of adultery but have no witness except themselves..."?
In Islamic law, if a husband accuses his wife of adultery but has no witnesses, he can invoke a special judicial process called Al Li'an (Mutual Oath). The couple swears specific solemn oaths before a judge, which spares them both from criminal punishment and results in their judicial separation; the majority hold the resulting prohibition of remarriage to be permanent.
The process of Al Li'an provides a legal and spiritual resolution to one of the most difficult marital dilemmas, protecting the honor and physical safety of both spouses when trust is completely shattered.
Can a couple remarry each other after performing Al Li'an?
No, according to the majority. The permanent prohibition resulting from valid Li'an remains even if the couple later regrets it or she marries another man. The Hanafi school allows a new marriage after the husband's retraction under its conditions.
What happens if the wife refuses to take the oath?
If the husband completes his five oaths and the wife refuses her counter-oaths, the Maliki and Shafi'i schools apply the legal penalty under their conditions. The Hanafi and Hanbali schools do not impose that penalty solely for refusal; they prescribe detention until she swears or confesses. Refusal itself is distinct from an actual confession.
Does Al Li'an apply to anyone other than a husband and wife?
No, this specific process is strictly limited to spouses. An accuser outside marriage cannot use Al Li'an; an accusation of zina against a protected person is governed by the rules of Qadhf, and its prescribed penalty requires the legal conditions to be established by a competent judge.
The Process of Mutual Oath (Al Li'an)
1. The Exception for Husbands
It is forbidden for a Muslim to accuse another Muslim of adultery (Qadhf) unless he has witnesses. However, the husband does not need four witnesses to testify against his wife if he catches her committing adultery or wants to deny the paternity of a child. His testimony process is called Li'an.
2. The Husband's Oath
Al Li'an is performed before a judge. The husband must swear by Allah four times that he is telling the truth, and make a fifth oath that the curse of Allah falls on him if he is lying about his accusation.
3. The Wife's Oath
The judge then offers the wife a choice: she can either acknowledge the accusation (which brings the punishment of adultery upon her), or she swears four times by Allah that she did not commit adultery, and a fifth oath invoking the wrath of Allah upon herself if her husband is telling the truth.
4. Permanent Separation
Based on this mutual swearing, the couple is separated. According to the majority, the man may not marry this woman again: the prohibition is permanent, whether she later marries another man or not. The Hanafi exception applies after retraction under its legal conditions.
The Quranic Revelation
(And those who accuse their wives of adultery but have no witnesses except themselves, the accuser must testify, swearing four times by Allah that he is telling the truth and a fifth oath that Allah may condemn him if he is lying. For her to be spared the punishment, she must swear four times by Allah that he is telling a lie, and a fifth oath invoking Allah's wrath upon her if he is telling the truth. And if not for the favor of Allah upon you and His mercy, and because Allah is Accepting of repentance and Wise.) Surah An Nur 24: 6 to 10.
Scholarly Insight: In Islamic Jurisprudence, the verses of Li'an were revealed to solve a severe societal dilemma. If a husband found his wife committing adultery, it was practically impossible for him to calmly go and find three other witnesses. If he spoke without witnesses, he would be whipped for slander (Qadhf). If he stayed silent, he would live in torment and potentially raise a child that was not his. Allah revealed the ruling of Li'an as a divine solution. By replacing the four witnesses with four solemn oaths from each spouse, the law protects the husband from the punishment of slander, protects the wife from the punishment of adultery (if she swears she is innocent), and brings judicial separation, which is permanent according to the majority, while the Hanafi school recognizes its conditional exception after retraction.
ما معنى قوله تعالى: "وَالَّذِينَ يَرْمُونَ أَزْوَاجَهُمْ وَلَمْ يَكُن لَّهُمْ شُهَدَاءُ إِلَّا أَنفُسُهُمْ" وما الذي ترشد إليه الآية؟
في الشريعة الإسلامية، إذا اتهم الزوج زوجته بالزنا ولم يكن لديه شهود، فيمكنه اللجوء إلى إجراء قضائي خاص يسمى "اللعان". يقسم الزوجان أيمانا مغلظة محددة أمام القاضي، مما يجنبهما العقوبة الجنائية ويؤدي إلى التفريق القضائي بينهما؛ ويقول الجمهور بتأبيد التحريم الناشئ عن اللعان.
توفر عملية اللعان حلا قانونيا وروحيا لواحدة من أصعب المعضلات الزوجية، حيث تحمي الشرف والسلامة الجسدية لكلا الزوجين عندما تنعدم الثقة تماما.
صفة اللعان وأحكامه
1. الاستثناء الخاص بالزوج
معلوم تحريم اتهام المسلم غيره بالزنا، وهو الذي يسمى القذف، ولا يجوز ذلك إلا بشهداء. أما قذف الرجل لزوجته فلا يشترط له وجود أربعة شهداء؛ لأنه يقصد نفي نسبة الولد له، والحكم حينئذ يسمى "اللعان" أو الملاعنة.
2. شهادة الزوج
صفة اللعان: أن يشهد الزوج على زوجته عند القاضي فيقول: أشهد بالله لقد رأيتها تزني أو هذا الولد ليس لي، يشهد أربع مرات. وفي المرة الخامسة يقول: لعنة الله عليه إن كان من الكاذبين.
3. شهادة الزوجة
يعرض القاضي على الزوجة أن تقر بما رماها به زوجها ويقام عليها الحد، أو تشهد أربع شهادات بالله أنها ما زنت، وفي الشهادة الخامسة تدعو المرأة على نفسها بغضب الله إن كان زوجها صادقا فيما يقول.
4. التفريق الأبدي
وبناء على هذه الملاعنة يفرق بين الزوجين؛ وعند الجمهور تحرم المرأة على الرجل على التأبيد سواء نكحت غيره أم لم تنكح، وللحنفية استثناء عند إكذاب الزوج نفسه بشروطهم.
الآيات القرآنية
(وَالَّذِينَ يَرْمُونَ أَزْوَاجَهُمْ وَلَمْ يَكُن لَّهُمْ شُهَدَاءُ إِلَّا أَنفُسُهُمْ فَشَهَادَةُ أَحَدِهِمْ أَرْبَعُ شَهَادَاتٍ بِاللَّهِ ۙ إِنَّهُ لَمِنَ الصَّادِقِينَ ﴿٦﴾ وَالْخَامِسَةُ أَنَّ لَعْنَتَ اللَّهِ عَلَيْهِ إِن كَانَ مِنَ الْكَاذِبِينَ ﴿٧﴾ وَيَدْرَأُ عَنْهَا الْعَذَابَ أَن تَشْهَدَ أَرْبَعَ شَهَادَاتٍ بِاللَّهِ ۙ إِنَّهُ لَمِنَ الْكَاذِبِينَ ﴿٨﴾ وَالْخَامِسَةَ أَنَّ غَضَبَ اللَّهِ عَلَيْهَا إِن كَانَ مِنَ الصَّادِقِينَ ﴿٩﴾ وَلَوْلَا فَضْلُ اللَّهِ عَلَيْكُمْ وَرَحْمَتُهُ وَأَنَّ اللَّهَ تَوَّابٌ حَكِيمٌ) النور 24: 6 إلى 10.
1. The Legislative Background: Resolving an Agonizing Dilemma | سبب النزول: حل معضلة الاتهام الزوجي بغير شهود
When the strict penalty for slander was revealed, Muslim husbands faced an agonizing dilemma: if a man witnessed his wife in indecency, he could neither remain silent without shame nor speak without facing eighty lashes. In response, Allah revealed the exception of Li'an in Surah An-Nur (24:6-9).
وَالَّذِينَ يَرْمُونَ أَزْوَاجَهُمْ وَلَمْ يَكُن لَّهُمْ شُهَدَاءُ إِلَّا أَنفُسُهُمْ فَشَهَادَةُ أَحَدِهِمْ أَرْبَعُ شَهَادَاتٍ بِاللَّهِ ۙ إِنَّهُ لَمِنَ الصَّادِقِينَ (سورة النور: 6)
لما نزل حد القذف واشتراط أربعة شهود، شق ذلك على الأزواج؛ فلو رأى الرجل مع امرأته رجلا فإما أن يسكت على غيظ وعار يمس نسبه وفراشه، وإما أن يتكلم فيجلد ثمانين جلدة؛ فأنزل الله رخصة "اللعان" في سورة النور مخرجا عادلا يحفظ كرامة الزوج ويدرأ التشهير العقيم.
2. The Husband's Fourfold Oaths and the Invocation of Curse | أيمان الزوج الأربع والخامسة بلعنة الله
Before a formal Islamic judge, the husband testifies four solemn times: "I swear by Allah that I am speaking the truth regarding my accusation." On the fifth statement, he solemnly proclaims: "May the curse of Allah be upon me if I am among the liars" (24:7), accepting the grave warning against a false oath.
وَالْخَامِسَةُ أَنَّ لَعْنَتَ اللَّهِ عَلَيْهِ إِن كَانَ مِنَ الْكَاذِبِينَ (سورة النور: 7)
يقف الزوج أمام الحاكم الشرعي ويشهد أربع مرات قائلا: "أشهد بالله إني لمن الصادقين فيما رميتها به"؛ وفي الشهادة الخامسة يؤكد جازما: "وعليّ لعنة الله إن كنت من الكاذبين"؛ فيشهد بهذه الأيمان المغلظة عند القاضي مع تحذيره من الكذب وعاقبة اليمين الكاذبة.
3. The Wife's Defense: Four Oaths and the Invocation of Wrath | دفع العقوبة عن الزوجة بأيمان الغضب
To avert the criminal punishment of adultery, the wife possesses the full legal right to counter-testify four times by Allah that her husband is lying. On the fifth oath, she declares: "And that the wrath of Allah be upon her if he is of the truthful" (24:9), thereby averting the legal punishment.
وَيَدْرَأُ عَنْهَا الْعَذَابَ أَن تَشْهَدَ أَرْبَعَ شَهَادَاتٍ بِاللَّهِ ۙ إِنَّهُ لَمِنَ الْكَاذِبِينَ وَالْخَامِسَةَ أَنَّ غَضَبَ اللَّهِ عَلَيْهَا إِن كَانَ مِنَ الصَّادِقِينَ (سورة النور: 8-9)
من عظمة العدالة القرآنية أن للمرأة حقا مماثلا في الدفاع عن شرفها؛ فتدفع عن نفسها حد الزنا بأن تحلف أربع شهادات بالله إنه لمن الكاذبين، وفي الخامسة تدعو على نفسها: {وَالْخَامِسَةَ أَنَّ غَضَبَ اللَّهِ عَلَيْهَا إِن كَانَ مِنَ الصَّادِقِينَ} (سورة النور: 9)، فتسقط عنها العقوبة فورا.
4. Legal Consequences: Permanent Separation and Lineage Denial | الفرقة الأبدية ونفي نسب الولد
The Maliki, Shafi'i, and Hanbali schools hold that Li'an leads to permanent separation; the Hanafi school permits a new marriage if the husband later retracts his accusation under its conditions. The schools also differ on when separation takes effect. If paternity is validly denied through Li'an, the child is attributed to the mother, as in Sahih al-Bukhari 5315.
فَمَضَتِ السُّنَّةُ بَعْدُ فِي الْمُتَلَاعِنَيْنِ أَنْ يُفَرَّقَ بَيْنَهُمَا ثُمَّ لَا يَجْتَمِعَانِ أَبَدًا (قول سهل بن سعد في سنن أبي داود 2250، صححه الألباني)
يقول جمهور المالكية والشافعية والحنابلة بتأبيد التحريم بعد اللعان، ويجيز الحنفية نكاحا جديدا إذا أكذب الزوج نفسه بشروطهم؛ ويختلف الفقهاء في وقت وقوع الفرقة. وإذا نفى الزوج نسب الولد بلعان صحيح ألحق بأمه، كما في صحيح البخاري 5315، فتثبت صلته بها وحقوق الإرث المقررة، ولا يحمل الطفل وزر غيره.
Frequently Asked Questions | الأسئلة الشائعة
What is Li'an in Islamic jurisprudence?
A solemn legal procedure where a husband who accuses his wife of adultery without witnesses swears five oaths, and she counters with five oaths.
What happens to the couple after completing the Li'an oaths?
According to the majority, they are permanently separated and cannot remarry each other. The Hanafi school permits a new marriage after the husband's retraction under its legal conditions.
What is the fifth oath sworn by the husband in Li'an?
Invoking the curse of Allah upon himself if he is lying.
To whom is a child attributed if the husband denies paternity during Li'an?
After a valid judicial denial of paternity through Li'an, the child is attributed to the mother (Sahih al-Bukhari 5315), with the prescribed rights of kinship and inheritance.