Can the Slander of Chaste Women be
Forgiven?
A Response to a
Criticism on the Qur'an
by
In one of his articles,
Mr. Jochen Katz has pointed out a contradiction in two verses of the Qur'an. Mr.
Katz writes:
“Those who slander
chaste women are cursed forever1 [in this life and the Hereafter] according to
Sura 24:23.”
However, according to another verse of
the Qur'an, the slanderer may be forgiven. Mr. Katz continues:
But Sura 24:5 says that
they can be forgiven if they repent after they have been beaten with 80
stripes. since it says to let them come back into full rights as members of
society, restoring their right to testify, BECAUSE Allah is (also)
oft-forgiving, most Merciful.
At this point Mr. Katz writes:
The earthly
forgiveness would not have any foundation or counterpart if Allah would not
extend forgiveness as well. That is the very basis on which He commands
earthly forgiveness.
In this article we shall consider the
criticism of Mr. Katz in the light of the referred verses of the Qur'an. The two
verses of the Qur'an, pertinent to Mr. Katz's criticism are Al-Noor 24:
23 and Al-Noor 24: 4 - 5.
Al-Noor 24: 23 reads as:
“Those who slander
against chaste, innocent, believing women shall indeed be cursed in this world as
well as the hereafter. For them shall be a grievous punishment”.
Al-Noor 24: 4 - 5 reads as:
“Those who slander
against chaste women and then do not produce four eye witnesses, shall be
awarded with eighty lashes and their testimony shall never be accepted after
this. These are the [true] transgressors, except those who [sincerely] repent
after this and correct themselves, for, then, God is indeed forgiving,
merciful”.
I really do not understand what is the
contradiction in these two verses. One of the verses (24: 23) tells us that
slanderers shall face a grievous punishment in this world as well as the
hereafter, while the other set of verses (24: 4 - 5) explains the punishment
that shall be administered on such slanderers in this world (eighty lashes and
disqualification from testifying forever) and in the hereafter (being placed in
the category of transgressors). However, the second set of verses (24: 4 - 5)
has also mentioned the obvious exception that if such people repent and correct
their behavior, they shall then not be dealt with as transgressors (in the
hereafter).
I had explained in one of my earlier
responses to one of Mr. Katz'z criticisms titled: “Does
Allah forgive Shirk?” that according to the Qur'an, true and sincere
repentance and subsequent correction of one's behavior not only does away with
the punishment of all sins in the hereafter - however grave the sins may be -
but also converts the sins into good deeds (Al-Furqaan 25: 68 - 71).
Therefore, even if the Qur'an had not mentioned (in 24: 5) that the only
exception would be those who repent and correct their behavior, it would still
have been understood (by a student of the Qur'an) to be an exception, in the
light of other verses of the Qur'an.
Keeping the above explanation in
perspective, it should be clear that even though Al-Noor 24: 23 has not
mentioned the exception clause, yet it is clear that even there the punishment
mentioned is for such slanderers who do not repent on their past doings and do
not correct their behavior. The verse, should more accurately be understood as
follows:
“Those who slander
against chaste, innocent, believing women [and then neither repent for their
slander nor correct their behavior], shall indeed be cursed in this world as
well as the hereafter. For them shall be a grievous punishment”.
Stating it even more generally, all the
punishments of sins mentioned in the Qur'an entail the obvious exception of
repentance and correction during the life of this world, in the light of the
Qur'an itself.
The above explanation should suffice as a
response to the criticism of Mr. Katz. However, I would like to clarify here
that Al-Noor 24: 5 is construed by some of the interpreters of the Qur'an
to imply an exception to the worldly punishment mentioned in the previous verse2.
In my opinion, this is not correct. Earthly punishments, mentioned in the Qur'an
are generally not excepted with repentance, due to the simple reason that the
sincerity and the truthfulness of repentance is a matter of the heart, not known
to man. Thus, a murderer or a fornicator or a thief may repent for his deeds and
promise to correct his behavior after being caught by the authorities, yet the
prescribed punishment shall be administered on him and he shall deserve no
leniency, merely on the grounds of repentance and resolve to correction.
However, his sincere repentance and true resolve to correction shall save him
from the grievous punishment for his sins in the hereafter.
Thus, the earthly punishment mentioned in
Al-Noor 23: 4 (eighty lashes and disqualification from testifying
forever) shall be administered even in the face of sincere repentance and
resolve to correction. However, true repentance and correction shall qualify the
sinner for the forgiveness and the mercy of the Lord, in the hereafter.
In view of the above explanation, Al-Noor
23: 4 - 5 should be understood as:
“Those who slander
against chaste women and then do not produce four eye witnesses, shall be
awarded with eighty lashes and their testimony shall never be accepted after
this. These are the [true] transgressors [and shall, therefore, be punished by God as
transgressors deserve to be punished,] except those who [sincerely] repent
after this and correct themselves, for then God is indeed forgiving,
merciful”.
© Copyright February 2000. All Rights
Reserved with the Author
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Notes:
1- It may
however be noted that the word 'forever' is not given in the Qur'an.
2- Mr. Katz
seems to be of the same opinion, as is evidenced by his words: “The earthly
forgiveness would not have any foundation or counterpart if Allah would not
extend forgiveness as well. That is the very basis on which He commands
earthly forgiveness.”