| Pain, Pleasure and Prejudice The Complete Layman’s Guide to the Koran Chapter 21 The Lost Verses Women and the Koran V When reading the Koran, I expected to find one or more verses pertaining to the stoning to death of women for the crime of adultery or for having pre-marital sex. I did not find any. I did, however, find three verses about the recommended punishment for adulterers. A Lost Verse Remembered One verse recommended the very harsh punishment of confining the adulteress to her home until she died. 4:15 As for those of your women who commit adultery, call four witnesses from your own against them; and if they testify then detain them in the houses till death overtakes them or Allah opens another way for them. If two men were found guilty of adultery the punishment was or could be much less severe and a slow, lingering death unlikely. Why two men? Fakhry does not provide any explanation for his additional text. 4:16 If two [men] of you commit it, punish them both. If they repent and mend their ways, then leave them alone. Allah is truly All-Forgiving, Merciful. Men were to be forgiven their adulterous transgressions but not women. Perhaps realizing the unfairness of it all Allah changed his mind … maybe? Yes, He did at one point, abrogate i.e. annulled verse 4:15 and replaced it with another where the woman’s punishment was greatly reduced and men were now also susceptible to being found guilty of adultery and suffering the same reduced punishment as the female partner in an adulteress affair. 24:2 The adulteress and the adulterer, whip each one of them a hundred lashes; and let no pity move you in Allah’s religion, regarding them; if you believe in Allah and the Hereafter. And let a group of believers witness their punishment. Adulterers could also only marry each other or an unbeliever. 24:3 The adulterer shall marry none but an adulteress or an idolatress; and the adulteress none shall marry her but an adulterer or idolater. That has been forbidden the believers. The new punishment for un-corroborated accusation of sexual impropriety against an unmarried woman was only slightly less painful than being found guilty of adultery. 24:4 Those who accuse chaste women, then cannot bring four witnesses, whip them eighty lashes, and do not ever accept their testimony. For those are the wicked sinners. 24:5 Except for those who repent afterwards and mend their ways. For Allah is surely All-Forgiving, Merciful. A wife accused of adultery by her husband could avoid the public whipping altogether by calling her husband a liar. 24:6 And those who accuse their wives and have no witnesses except themselves, the testimony of one of them shall be to swear by Allah four times that he is truthful. 24:7 The fifth time shall be Allah’s Curse on him if he is a liar. 24:8 And her swearing four times by Allah that he is a liar will ward off punishment from her. 24:9 And the fifth time will be that Allah’s Wrath be upon her, if he (her husband) is truthful. If Allah says a public whipping is the punishment for adultery and a wife can avoid even that punishment by calling her husband a liar, why are women accused of adultery still susceptible to being stoned to death in countries where the Koran is the law? And, why do some countries where the Koran is the law, favour the execution of alleged adulteresses and girls, such as sixteen-year-old Atefah Sahaaleh, who was hanged in a public square in the Iranian city of Neka in 2004 for having pre-marital sex? Is it because the Prophet was in favour of stoning women for adultery? Malik related to me from Yaqub ibn Zayd ibn Talha from his father Zayd ibn Talha that Abdullah ibn Abi Mulayka informed him that a woman came to the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, and informed him that she had committed adultery and was pregnant. The Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said to her, "Go away until you give birth." When she had given birth, she came to him. The Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said to her, "Go away until you have suckled and weaned the baby." When she had weaned the baby, she came to him. He said, "Go and entrust the baby to someone." She entrusted the baby to someone and then came to him. He gave the order and she was stoned. Al-Muwatta Syed Shahabuddin writing in the Milli Gazette, Indian Muslim’s leading English newspaper reminds us that that flogging is the punishment for adultery, not stoning and the Koran is the final authority, even the Prophet could not substitute his own opinion. If so, why does Islamic law, in some jurisdictions, give precedence to the example of the Prophet instead of the Koran? According to Shahabuddin this is because “some [Islamic] scholars support 'Rajm' (stoning) by attributing a statement to the second Caliph Umar (second successor to the Prophet Muhammad) that a revelation on the subject had been received but had been lost.” In a hadith collected by the famous Sunni scholar Ibn Hanbal the verse was eaten by a goat. [Narrated 'Aisha] "The verse of the stoning and of suckling an adult ten times were revealed, and they were (written) on a paper and kept under my bed. When the messenger of Allah expired and we were preoccupied with his death, a goat entered and ate away the paper." So there you have it. When you hear of a woman being stoned or murdered for committing adultery or for having pre-marital relations in conservative Muslim jurisdictions such as Iran, Nigeria or Saudi Arabia the justification just might be this lost verse of the Koran. Shahabuddin, always helpful, also explains why it is always women who get stoned even though the punishment is supposed to apply equally to both sexes. “Apart from the brutality of the 'Rajm' (stoning), repugnant to conscience, here is an element of gender injustice in the operation of the traditional law which allows the male partner to get off scot-free, even if he has coerced and raped the female. If the woman lodges a complaint, her complaint is taken as a testimony against herself and, therefore, amounts to admission and requires no further evidence while it is necessary to get 4 witnesses against the man. Also the woman may bear a child, as in Amina's case (Amina Lawal was sentenced to death by stoning by a Nigerian Islamic Sharia Court. Amina had an 8 month old daughter), which is admitted as evidence of zena (guilt) against the woman. Man suffers from no such disability.” ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Ali, the Prophet's cousin and son-in-law, during the discussions concerning Aisha's suspected adulterous one-night stand (see The Perfect Wife - A Child Bride’s Indiscretion) told his father-in-law that “Allah has not placed any limits on the choice of a wife. They are plentiful” which would suggest that Ali, who was never a fan of Aisha, favoured that she be stoned and replaced. This has led to speculation that Aisha deliberately got rid of the revelation pertaining to stoning a wife for adultery, after her husband passed away, to avoid being stoned should Ali convinced the Prophet's successor to do what the Prophet would not do while he was alive. The Cult of Masculinity Misogyny (hatred of or hostility towards women) is perhaps too strong a term, yet a prejudicial view of women is perhaps not strong enough when describing Allah’s attitude towards women, an attitude largely shared by His Messenger. The vehemence that Allah demonstrates towards females may just be an extreme manifestation of the cult of masculinity. The ultimate expression of this male adoration cult was everywhere evident in pagan Arabia where sons were cherished and daughters barely tolerated until a male heir was produced. The whole Arab patronymic naming nomenclature (a part of a personal name is based on the name of one's father) rests on a father being able to trace his ancestry through his father’s name (it is expressly forbidden to use a mother or daughter’s name to trace your lineage). That is why today, as it was then, Arab names often contain the conjunctions ibn/ben meaning son of, or Abu meaning father of. Allah’s extreme reaction to being associated with females may also have had something to do with His Messenger not fathering any sons that survived beyond infancy. For this failure the Prophet was often taunted and ridiculed by his enemies who would openly wondered why God had not favoured His greatest Messenger with sons. Both the Prophet and his benefactor may have seen this inability to father healthy sons as just another of women’s many failings and both may not have wished to associate themselves too closely with so obviously flawed creatures. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ In the surah Abundance Allah makes an indirect reference to His Messenger’s son who died in infancy. 108:1 We have surely given you abundance; 108: 2 So pray to your Lord and offer in sacrifice. 108:3 Indeed, your chief hater is the real childless (the reference is to Al-‘Aas Ibn Wa’il who chided Muhammad upon the death of his son)
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