Allah has Prohibited Adultery and Its Causes

12/03/2012| IslamWeb

A fundamental Sharee‘ah rule is that when Allah The Almighty forbids something, He also forbids the causes, ways and means that lead to it, in order for its prohibition to be realized, any access to it denied, its protected zone kept far from intruders, sins related to it be avoided, and its harmful effects to both the individual and the community be removed.

Should anything be prohibited by Allah and the means that lead to it left permissible, such a prohibition would then be defunct, and the Sharee‘ah of the Lord of the Worlds is far above that.

Of a surety, adultery is one of the most grievous, hideous, harmful and dangerous forms of immorality, and its consequences have the most disastrous effects on the very foundations of one’s religion. This is why the prohibition of adultery is an indisputably established fact of religion that should be known by all Muslims.

Allah The Almighty Says (what means): {And do not approach unlawful sexual intercourse. Indeed, it is ever an immorality and is evil as a way.} [Quran 17:32]

For this reason, its causes have been prohibited, that is, Sufoor (uncovering the face) and its means, Tabarruj (exposing beauty) and its means, intermixing and its means, the woman's imitation of man and of the disbelieving women, and other such causes of suspicion, Fitnah (tribulation) and corruption.

Consider the great wonders of revelation, which indeed represent an aspect of the inimitability of the Quran: when Allah The Almighty mentions in the beginning of Soorat An-Noor how odious the crime of adultery is, and prohibits it entirely. He enumerates, from its opening to the thirty-third noble verse, fourteen defensive means to prevent immorality and deter it in a pure and chaste community, that is, the community of Muslims. Some of these preventive means are acts, some are words and others are intentions.

They are as follows:

1- To purify both the adulterer and adulteress with the corporal punishment prescribed for them.

2- To maintain purity by stipulating that marriage with an adulteress is forbidden as is giving chaste women in marriage to adulterers except in the case of a true and sincere repentance on the part of the former adulterer/adulteress.

These are two practical preventive means.

3- To purify tongues from accusing people of the immorality of fornication, and whoever launches a false charge with no evidence should receive the corporal punishment of lashes prescribed for false accusation.

4- To purify the husband's tongue from accusing his wife of adultery with no evidence, lest he would be subjected to Li‘aan (a type of oath that results in divorce).

5- To purify souls and forbid the hearts from baselessly accusing a Muslim of committing immorality.

6- To cleanse the person's will and prevent it from the desire to spread immorality among Muslims, lest it would weaken those who reject it and strengthen those who are immoral.

This is why the punishment for this kind of sin is more painful than any other, as stated by Allah The Almighty (what means): {Indeed, those who like that immorality should be spread [or publicized] among those who have believed will have a painful punishment in this world and the Hereafter.} [Quran 24:19]

To like that immorality should be spread includes liking all the awful means that lead to it, whether it is through words, deeds, consent or promoting what causes it.

This severe threat applies to those who advocate liberating woman from the Hijab, and releasing her from the Sharee‘ah-defined commands that affirm her chastity and modesty.

7- To maintain a broad prevention, by purifying the soul from any doubts or passing thoughts, which are Satan's first footstep in the souls of the believers to lead them to fall in immorality. Purification is the strongest way to prevent immorality as confirmed by Allah The Almighty who Says (what means): {O you who have believed, do not follow the footsteps of Satan. And whoever follows the footsteps of Satan - indeed, he enjoins immorality and wrongdoing.} [Quran 24:21]

8- To seek permission to enter any dwelling, in order that the person's sight would not fall on anything exposed from the members of that household.

9- To purify the eyes from man's unlawful look at a non-Mahram (i.e., marriageable) woman, or a woman’s unlawful look at a non-Mahram man.

10- To prohibit the woman from disclosing her adornment in front of non-Mahram men.

11- To prevent all that moves and provokes the desire of the man, like a woman striking the ground with her feet in order for her anklets to be heard, attracting to her those men who have diseased souls.

12- To command those who do not have the financial means to marry, to modestly refrain from sin through several means.

The Noble Quran and the purified Sunnah have stipulated many preventive means and precautions to protect people from immorality - both men and women.

Some are specifically for men in their relation with men, like the obligation to screen the man's ‘Awrah (areas of the body that must be covered): it is impermissible for a man to expose his ‘Awrah, which is the area from the navel to the knee. There are also the following:

Forbidding men from looking at non-Mahram women.

Forbidding men from sitting alone with beardless young men or looking at them lustfully.

Other means address women in their relation with other women.

One of the greatest preventive means and precautions that protect from adultery is the obligation of Hijab on the Muslim woman, and this is with the objective of preserving them and keeping them chaste, screened, guarded, modest, and far from decadence, and protecting them from humiliation, degradation, and being deprived of modesty.