ZINA IN ISLAMIC PERSPECTIVE

Definition of Zina

Zina can be defined as the sexual intercourse between a man and a woman not married to each other[1].It is not a matter whether it is adultery (where the participants are married people) or fornication (when they are unmarried). The man who fornicates is called “zani” and the woman is called “zaniyah”. Islam regards Zina in any case as a great sin.
“ Do not come near to adultery for it is shameful deed and an evil, opening road to other evils”(17:32)
Besides that, the Prophet declared Zina to be the greatest evil after Shirk (association of something with Allah). Prophet said :
“There is no sin after Shirk greater in the eyes of Allah than a drop of semen which a man places in the womb which is not lawful for him.” (Al-Bukhari, Kitab Al-Hudud)
Allah has reserved great torments for adulterers in the hereafter. The Prophet is reported as saying that a most foul smell would emanate in Hell from the private parts of an adulterer. He is also reported to have said that Allah will open in the grave of the adulterer eighty doors of hell which will emerge scorpions and snakes to bite him until the Day of Resurrection.
Hanafis describe zina as a fiqh term as follows: the sexual intercourse of a man who is mukallaf (responsible) with religious decrees with a woman who is mature enough to be desired for sexual intercourse and who is not his wife or female slave in an Islamic country from the front part of their bodies.
It is necessary for the glans of the penis to enter the vagina for the punishment of hadd to be carried out.[2] The intercourse less than it, for instance, kissing, hugging, rubbing the penis between the thighs, do not necessitate the punishment of hadd (punishment fixed by the Quran) although they are haram. Since small children and insane people are not mukallaf, their fornication does not necessitate the punishment of hadd. On the other hand, according to Abu Hanifa, anal intercourse with a man or woman (liwat) is not decreed as zina because it cannot be defined as zina. Abu Yusuf, Imam Muhammad, Shafii, Hanbalis and Malikis hold the opposite view. Intercourse with a dead woman and an animal is not decreed as zina, either, because that kind of intercourse is not regarded as normal by healthy people. In addition, it is necessary that the man or the woman be not forced to commit fornication. The Messenger of Allah (pbuh) said:
"My ummah (community) will not be accounted for the things that they do by mistake, forgetting and being forced." (Bukhari, Hudud, 22; Talaq, II; Abu Dawud, Hudud, 17; Tirmidhi, Hudud, 1; Ibn Majah, Talaq, 15).

1. Woman in Shariah (Islamic Law), Abdur Rahman I.Doi,6, 1989, Ta Ha Publishers Ltd
2. What is Fornication? http://www.questionsonislam.com/index.php?s=show_qna&id=1219

Factors Leading to Adultery

There are several factors leading to adultery. The main factor of adultery is because having a weak faith. [3]One of the signs of weak faith is a person commit sins over and over again. As the result, he reaches a stage where he feels that his heart has turns into a solid rock that is not affected by anything. Allah says:
"And yet, after this, your hearts hardened and became like rocks, or even harder." (2:74).
The promises, warnings, commands, prohibitions, and descriptions of the Day of Judgment do not make his eyes flood with tears, or his heart quiver, or his soul shiver. Consequently, he gets bored and tired when he listens to the recital of the Qur'an. For instance, he knows that there is a verse which prohibits him from doing Zina but he ignores the verse and keeps on doing it.
Besides that, factor of adultery is looking at the Non- Mahram.. Man should lower their gaze whenever he meets with Ajnabi woman. Allah says:“Tell the believing men to lower their gaze (from looking at forbidden things), and protect their private parts (from illegal sexual acts)” (24: 30).Men must lower their gaze and refrain from looking at forbidden things in all circumstances, unless there is a valid reason, such as giving testimony, medical treatment, proposing marriage, engaging in financial transactions such as buying and selling. These activities are permissible by Islam. However, a man should follow the conditions given like to look much as required.
The third factor lead to adultery is many women neglecting the importance of covering their aurah. The aurah of female is the whole body with the exception of the face, hands, and feet. A woman may not show her aurah to anyone except her husband and muslim male whom she cannot marry like father, brother , son, uncle and others.
Islamic dress helps safeguard the modesty and decency of a person and the moral ideal of society, where sex is permitted only in marriage. There is a deep impact which outer modesty makes on inner spiritual well-being. Also, inner spirituality is reflected on one's appearance. Allah says:
"And say to the believing women that they should lower their gaze and guard their modesty; that they should not display their beauty and ornaments (in public) beyond what may decently be apparent. Hence, let them draw their head-coverings over their bosoms. And let them not display (more of) their charms to any but their husbands, or their father,.."[24:31]. Allah asks the husband and father to ensure that his wives or daughters to wear hijab and cover their aurah properly.
"O Prophet! Tell your wives, daughters and the believing woman that they should draw their outer garments (hijab), over their persons (when in public). That is more proper that they should be recognized (as decent women) and not molested." [33:59]

The Effects of Adultery

Islam abhors adultery and enjoins upon muslims to keep away from all those things which might prove to leading towards adultery and fornication. Adultery causes negative impacts toward individual, family institutions and the society.
First of all, adultery destroys the family institutions. The adulterers did not get married and they will get an illegitimate child. An illegitimate in Arabic language is walad azzina. Walad Azzina refers to a child without legal marriage. According to Muzakarah of National Fatwa Council, an illegitimate child cannot be bin with his father. Besides, the child cannot inherit the father properties and if the child is a girl, the father is not allowed to be the wali. That is why Islam introduces the concept of marriage/azzawaj to prevent adultery and illegitimate child.
According to official reports, the National Registration Department (NRD) reported that more than 257,000 registered without a birth certificate records the name of the father, since the year 2000 and in July 2008.This means that on average, 2.500 cases of illegitimate children are recorded at 83.3 cases per month or every day. If extended further, a case of registration of an illegitimate child occurs in every 17 minutes 17 seconds! The number of illegitimate child in every state are confirmed and certified.*

terms of health, it is proven that adultery causes the spread of HIV and AIDS diseases. The most common ways in which HIV is spreading throughout the world include sexual contact. Sexual transmission of HIV has been described from men to men, women to men, and women to women through vaginal, onal and oral sex. Normally this disease is easily spread when the person keep exchange his or her mate.As the saying goes, prevention is better than cure. Therefore, all the muslims are advised to stay away from this evil thing as it will harm their health.
Nowadays we can see the social problems among teenagers are increasing from day to day. The female teens will kill her innocent baby by dumping her baby into the drains, dustbins, and bushes. These immoral activities bring bad reputation to the country. I will enclose the statistic of baby dumping in Malaysia to show that this crime is become worse.

ARCHIVES UTUSAN MALAYSIA: 07/04/2010 Selangor recorded the highest cases of baby dumping - Shahrizat

KUALA LUMPUR, 7 April - Selangor recorded a number of cases of baby dumping and abuse of children is highest in the country over the last five years starting in 2005, the People's Assembly was told today.

Minister of Women, Family and Community Development, Datuk Seri Shahrizat Abdul Jalil said, according to statistics of the Royal Malaysia Police (PDRM), Selangor recorded 105 cases of baby dumping, while the statistics department of Social Welfare (JKM) is recorded 3.234 cases of child abuse.

"In total, 407 cases were recorded relating to removal of the baby and 10.758 cases of child abuse and infant was recorded over the last five years," he said.

He said this when answering a question Datuk Ismail Abd Muttalib (BN-Maran) who wanted to know the number of cases of waste and abuse of infants for the period 2005-2010 by state and because the incident occurred and that the government action in dealing with these symptoms.

Besides Selangor, Johor recorded 83 cases of baby dumping, Sabah (65), Sarawak (34), Negeri Sembilan (24), Penang (22), Perak (19), Pahang and Kedah (17), Kelantan (10), Terengganu (5), Malacca (3), Kuala Lumpur (2) and Perlis (1). - Bernama


How to Prevent Adultery Among Muslims.

There are many ways to solve the adultery among muslims in Malaysia. The best way to overcome adultery is marriage. Marriage structures the basic unit of human society and lays the foundation of the family. Healthy families are required for the cohesive preservation of the human race. So Allah commands the believers to marry for its benefits morally, spiritually, socially, and psychologically. Allah says:
“And among His signs in this that He created for you mates from among yourselves, that you may dwell in tranquility with them, and He has put love and mercy between your hearts..”
The Holy Prophet (peace and blessing of Allah be on him) said: "Marriage is my precept and my practice. Those who do not follow my practice are not of me." Prophet also said: "When a man has married, he has completed one half of his religion."
It should be perfectly clear by now that Islam does not permit sexual relations, even preliminary acts of physical love, outside of marriage. To remain sexually inactive and chaste before marriage is an extremely important injunction in the Holy Qur'an. Adultery, fornication and having secret relationships with the opposite sex is a heinous moral lapse which is categorically condemned in the strongest terms by Islam. This prohibition includes dating, secret paramours and experimental living together. As these are regarded as heavy sins, they carry severe penalties. (See Holy Qur'an, 24:3-4).

The Holy Qur'an has provided the means for maintaining chastity. It directs believing men and women to restrain themselves from looking at each so openly as to be sexually excited by them. It further directs them to restrain their ears from listening to flirtatious and tempting talk and to avoid occasions which might lead to temptation. Fasting, dieting and exercise also help to control passions and maintain chastity.
Islam regards marriage as the means by which man's natural urges and needs, both physical and emotional, are controlled and satisfied at the same time. Uncontrolled and uninhibited satisfaction of physical desire is simply not permitted in Islam. Adultery and fornication are grave sins. A Muslim man cannot go to any woman and merely satisfy his physical desires; he has to do so through a legal contract of marriage, which carries with it the additional responsibilities, duties and liabilities of family and children for the rest of his life.
The result of this restriction is the creation of a society whose morals are protected. In fact, the Holy Qur'an mentions the marriage contract (nikah) by the word ihsan, which means a fortress. The man who contracts marriage is a muhsin, that is he builds a fortress. The woman who marries him is a muhsinah, which means that she has come into the protection of that fort, in order to protect herself and their morals.

Because of the grave dangers that children and others are now exposed to from an early age, it is important to pay attention to this aspect of education.
Appropriate sex education[4] at the proper time and manner is not only desirable but necessary. It is especially because of the destructive trends in the world of today.
Sex education is taught within the framework of religious obligations. A mother or female teacher would naturally be the best person to teach a daughter and the father or male teacher a son.
Children are taught what is permissible and what is forbidden with reasons and consequences. No immoral or dissolute person is therefore allowed to teach.
All teaching is to be imparted within the limits of modesty and chastity and no encouragements should be given to lewdness and experimentation.
Sex education is imparted in stages according to the natural physical and emotional development of children. The ages given below for each stage is approximate and may be vary slightly from child to child.
1. The age between 7-10 are called the age of discretion at which training is given, for example etiquette of asking permission to enter room. Significantly a child is recommended to begin performing salah from the age of 7.This requires the proper etiquette of maintaining personal hygiene, including the washing of private parts after going to toilet. The context in which private parts are discussed allows the subject to be mentioned openly and naturally and without any unhealthy secretiveness or coarseness
2. The age between ten and fourteen known as the age of puberty in which the child is prepared for the next stage but trained to keep away from all sexual passions. A child is trained to perform salah regularly from the age of 10. In Surah Al-Ankabut Allah says that salah can keep one away from all that is “shameful and bad”.
3. The age normally between 13-16 known as maturity at which the child now turned adult is taught to practice chastity and self-restraint until marriage or if for whatever reason he or she is unable to marry.
The urologist, *Dr Ismail Thamby said Sex education should be taught in schools in order to create awareness among youths the consequences of having free sex.
Normally young people will not think of the consequences of their actions because they are easily driven by factors such as influence by pornographic materials on the Internet, as well as they lack religious knowledge.

4. Islam the Natural Way, Abdul Wahid Hamid,77-79, MELS Publishing,1989

If sex education is implemented in schools, the most important thing is not so much of teaching them how to have sex in the safest way but more for them to think of the consequences to them and society.
According to Dr Ismail, the social responsibility should be borne by everybody and not to any particular group, to ensure that youngsters realize the actual role of sex.
However, the government will not implement the subject yet as some organizations claim that Sex education will bring more disadvantages rather than the advantages. This issue is still kept debating. There is no decision yet made by the government.

Punishment for Zina

There are definite hadd punishments [1] for adulterers mentioned in the Quran and Sunnah. The Quranic injunctions were revealed little by little so as to be easily acceptable to the new converts to Islam who were steeped in the vice of Zina during the Days of Ignorance.
The first revelation was about women. It said:“ If any of your women are guilty of adultery, take the evidence of four witnesses from amongst you against them, and if they testify confine them to houses until death do claim them, or Allah ordains for them some other way” (4:15)
The second revelation covered both men and women: “If two persons among you are guilty of adultery, punish them both. If they repent and amend themselves, leave them alone, for Allah is Oft- returning, Most Merciful” (4:16)
The third revelation prescribed a specific punishment for adultery. It reads: “The woman and the man guilty of Zina, flog each of them with a hundred stripes; let no compassion move you in their case, in a matter prescribed by Allah, if you believe in Allah and The Last Day; and let a party of the believers witness their punishment “(24:2)
When this verse was revealed, it was understood that those guilty of adultery should be given a hundred lashes as a punishment. The Prophet clarified the injunction :
“Take from me, accept from me. Undoubtedly Allah has now shown the path for them. For unmarried person, the punishments is hundred lashes and exile for one year. For married adulterers, it is hundred lashes and stoning to death.”(Al-Bukhari, Kitab Al-Hudud)

1. Woman in Shariah(Islamic Law), Abdur Rahman I. Doi,119, Ta Ha Publishers Ltd. 1989
Some jurists take the view that because a person guilty of adultery is to be stoned to death, there is no need to punish him with a hundred lashes. They take support from the fact that the Prophet stoned two jewish adulterers to death and did not punish them with the lashes. However, Caliph Ali punished a woman with a lashes on a Thursday and stoned her on a Friday. He maintained that he gave the lashes in accordance with the command of Allah and stoned her according to the command of the Messenger of Allah.
The punishment of the fornication of a single man and a single woman is one hundred stripes; the punishment of the fornication of a married man is rajm (stoning to death). Allah, the Exalted, states the following: "The woman and the man guilty of adultery or fornication― flog each of them with a hundred stripes: let not compassion move you in their case, in a matter prescribed by Allah, if ye believe in Allah and the Last Day: and let a party of the Believers witness their punishment " (an-Nur:2). The Arabic word “jaldah” (stripe) means hitting on the skin without penetrating the flesh. While flogging, thick clothes like the coat, jacket, etc of the person is taken off; the other clothes are not taken off.
The following conditions must first be fulfilled before a person can be stoned to death as a punishment.
The adulterer must be over the age of puberty. A child who has not reached the age of puberty cannot be given the punishment of hadd. If a man fornicates with a small girl, the punishment of hadd is not necessary for the girl but it is necessary for the man. The girl is not mukallaf but the man is and he is responsible for what he does. (Bilmen, Omer Nasuhi, Hukuku Islamiye, 3/203, Zina Bolumu)
2- They must be sane. An insane person cannot be given the punishment of hadd. If a sane man fornicates with an insane woman or if a sane woman fornicates with an insane man, the sane one is given the punishment of hadd.
3- According to most of the scholars, the punishment of hadd is given to both a Muslim and an unbeliever. However, according to Hanafis, a married unbeliever man is not stoned to death, he is flogged with stripes. According to Malikis, if an unbelieving man fornicates with an unbeliever woman, they are not given the hadd punishment. However, if they reveal it, they are given a different punishment. If an unbeliever man forces a Muslim woman for fornication, he is killed. According to Shafiis and Hanbalis, non-Muslims with passports of another country cannot be punished for fornication or drinking alcohol. They are the rights that interest Allah and the foreigners are not responsible for them.
4- Fornication must be carried out willfully. According to the majority of scholars, a person who is forced to fornicate cannot be given the punishment of hadd. Hanbalis hold the opposite view.

5- Fornication must take place between human beings. According to the three mazahib and the sound view among Shafiis, a person who fornicates with an animal is not given the punishment of hadd; he is given the punishment of tazir. The animal is not killed. According to the view of the majority of the scholars, there is no drawback to eating the meat of that animal. According to Hanbalis, the animal is killed with the witnessing of two men; the meat of that animal becomes haram and the price of the animal is paid to its owner.
6- Fornication must not be based on a suspicion. According to the majority of the scholars, if someone fornicates with a woman who is a stranger thinking that she is his wife or slave, the punishment of hadd is not necessary. According to Abu Hanifa and Abu Yusuf, the punishment of hadd is necessary. Here, there is suspicion about the doer. There is a unanimous agreement that the punishment of hadd is not necessary for a sexual intercourse after an invalid marriage, which is controversial in terms of madhhabs. The same thing is valid for the marriage of a girl without the permission of her parents or relatives or a marriage without witnesses. If the marriage is regarded invalid unanimously, then the punishment of hadd is carried out. Being married with two sisters at the same time, marrying a fifth woman while one is married with four women, marrying someone that is haram to marry in terms of relation or breastfeeding, marrying a woman who is waiting for iddah (the period of waiting by a woman who is divorced or whose husband has died) and marrying a woman that one has divorced three times before that woman marries someone else are invalid marriages, and the punishment of hadd are carried out for them after sexual intercourse. However, if the person claims that he did not know that it was haram, then sexual intercourse for the cases mentioned above does not necessitate the punishment of hadd.
7- The fornication must be in dar al-Islam (in an Islamic country). The head of the Islamic state have no authority or power over dar al-harb (a country of non-Muslims) or dar al-baghi (a country that has rebelled). That is, he cannot apply the punishment of hadd there.
8- The woman must be alive. According to the majority of the scholars, a person who has sexual intercourse with a dead woman is not given the punishment of hadd. In Malikis, the common view is just the opposite.
9- The sexual intercourse must be through the vagina and the glans of the penis must enter the vagina. Sexual intercourse through anus, according to Abu Hanifa, necessitates the punishment of tazir only. According to Abu Yusuf, Imam Muhammad and other three madhhabs, sexual intercourse through anus necessitates the punishment of hadd. Sexual contact with the thigh, abdomen, etc of the woman other than her sexual organ necessitates the punishment of tazir because it is a haram act for which a punishment has not been stated definitely by Shariah.

Let us be a good muslim. A good muslim will obey to all the commands of Allah. Allah says that adultery and fornication is haraam, therefore we have to prevent ourselves from adultery. We have to stay away from Zina as it is evil.
The Prophet S.A.W said the main reason why people commit adultery is they forget to lower the gaze. The men are very passionate look at unknown woman with lust and desire. The Prophet prohibits such looks by saying “Even to look at an unknown woman is also a sin.”
Adultery brings corruption to the society. The adulterers will not get married and thus ruins the family institutions. Many illegitimate children will be born. The illegitimate child will never get rights like other child. They cannot make their father as their wali and they will not inherit the father’s properties. That is why Islam prohibits adultery or sex before marriage to take care of the children’s right.
Every command that Allah has stated in Al-Quran is actually gives a lot of benefits and advantages to the mankind. Perhaps some people will think Islam discriminates the children’s rights by distinguishing between legitimate and illegitimate child. Islam has laid down some guidelines to the illegitimate children to remind people that family institution is given priority. Do you think Islam is evil? I do not think so as Islam is actually gives the welfare and mercy to all the society .
“…He has chosen you and has imposed no difficulties on you in your religion..” (22:78)

As a conclusion, together we put an effort to prevent Zina. Allah will never change the condition of a people until they change it themselves. We have to put trust in Allah,totally believe that there is a concrete reason why Allah prohibits adultery. Everyone must give cooperation to avoid adultery in our society.
Prophet said : “Whoever witnesses any evils, he has to change it with his hand ,if he is unable to do so, then change by his tongue, if he is unable to do so then he has to hate the evil in his heart and that is the lesser degree of iman.
We are really hoping the government will implement Islamic law in Malaysia. We believe that the hudud is the only way to deter and educate people to not commit zina.