Zina

Short description: Islamic legal term referring to unlawful sexual intercourse

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Zināʾ (زِنَاء) or zinā (زِنًى or زِنًا) is an Islamic legal term referring to unlawful sexual intercourse.[1] According to traditional jurisprudence, zina can include adultery,[2][3][4] fornication,[2][3][4] prostitution,[5] rape,[1] sodomy,[2][6] incest,[7][8] and bestiality.[2][9] Zina must be proved by testimony of four Muslim eyewitnesses to the actual act of penetration, or a confession repeated four times and not retracted later.[10][1] The offenders must have acted of their own free will.[1] Rapists could be prosecuted under different legal categories which used normal evidentiary rules.[11] Making an accusation of zina without presenting the required eyewitnesses is called qadhf (القذف), which is itself a hudud offense.[12]

There are very few recorded examples of the stoning penalty for zinā being implemented legally. Prior to legal reforms introduced in several countries during the 20th century, the procedural requirements for proving the offense of zinā to the standard necessary to impose the stoning penalty were effectively impossible to meet.[1][13]

Zina became a more pressing issue in modern times, as Islamist movements and governments employed polemics against public immorality.[1] In recent decades several countries passed legal reforms that incorporated elements of hudud laws into their legal codes, and many modern Islamists have also disregarded the condition of strict evidence requirements.[14] In Nigeria, local courts have passed several stoning sentences, all of which were overturned on appeal or left unenforced.[15] In Pakistan, the Hudood Ordinances of 1979 subsumed prosecution of rape under the category of zina, making rape extremely difficult to prove and exposing the victims to jail sentences for admitting illicit intercourse forced upon them,[1][11] although these laws were amended in 2006,[13] and again in 2016.[16] According to human rights organizations, stoning for zina has also been carried out in Saudi Arabia.[17]

## Contents

* 1 Islamic scriptures
* 1.1 Introduction and definition
* 1.2 Adultery and fornication
* 1.2.1 Quran
* 1.2.2 Hadith
* 1.3 Rape
* 1.3.1 View of scholars
* 1.4 Homosexuality
* 1.5 Anal sex
* 1.6 Incest
* 1.7 Masturbation
* 1.8 Bestiality
* 2 Inclusions in the definition
* 3 Accusation process and punishment
* 3.1 Sunni practice
* 3.2 Shi'a practice
* 4 Human rights controversy
* 5 In popular culture
* 6 See also
* 7 References
* 8 Further reading
* 9 External links

## Islamic scriptures

Muslim scholars have historically considered zinā a hudud sin, or crime against God.[18] It is mentioned in both Quran and in the Hadiths.[19]

### Introduction and definition

The Quran deals with zinaʾ in several places. First is the Qur'anic general rule that commands Muslims not to commit zina:

> "Nor come nigh to fornication/adultery: for it is a shameful (deed) and an evil, opening the road (to other evils)."

— Qur'an, Sura 17 (Al-Isra), ayat 32[20]

In the Hadiths, the definitions of zina have been described as all the forms of sexual intercourse, penetrative or non-penetrative, outside of marriage.[citation needed]

> Abu Huraira reported Allah's Apostle as saying: “Allah has decreed for every son of Adam his share of zina, which he will inevitably commit. The zina of the eyes is looking, the zina of the tongue is speaking, one may wish and desire, and the private parts confirm that or deny it.”

— 8:77:609, 33:6421

### Adultery and fornication

#### Quran

Most of the rules related to fornication, adultery and false accusations from a husband to his wife or from members of the community to chaste women, can be found in Surat an-Nur (the Light). The sura starts by giving very specific rules about punishment for zina:

> "The woman and the man guilty of zināʾ (for fornication or adultery),- 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."

— Qur'an, Sura 24 (An-Nur), ayat 2[21]

> "And those who accuse chaste women then do not bring four witnesses, flog them, (giving) eighty stripes, and do not admit any evidence from them ever; and these it is that are the transgressors. Except those who repent after this and act aright, for surely Allah is Forgiving, Merciful."

— Qur'an, Sura 24 (An-Nur), ayat 4–5[22]

#### Hadith

The Stoning of an Adulteress, illustration to a manuscript of 1001 Nights by Abu'l Hasan Ghaffari or his atelier. Tehran, 1853–1857

The public lashing punishment for fornication and adultery are also prescribed in Hadiths, the books most trusted in Islam after Quran, particularly in Kitab Al-Hudud.[23][24][not specific enough to verify]

> 'Ubada b. as-Samit reported: Allah's Messenger as saying: Receive teaching from me, receive teaching from me. Allah has ordained a way for those women. When an unmarried male commits adultery with an unmarried female, they should receive one hundred lashes and banishment for one year. And in case of married male committing adultery with a married female, they shall receive one hundred lashes and be stoned to death.

— 17:4191

> Ma'iz came to the Prophet and admitted having committed adultery four times in his presence so he ordered him to be stoned to death, but said to Huzzal: If you had covered him with your garment, it would have been better for you.

— 38:4364

Hadith Sahih al Bukhari, another authentic source of sunnah, has several entries which refer to death by stoning.[25] For example,

> Narrated 'Aisha: 'Utba bin Abi Waqqas said to his brother Sa'd bin Abi Waqqas, "The son of the slave girl of Zam'a is from me, so take him into your custody." So in the year of Conquest of Mecca, Sa'd took him and said. (This is) my brother's son whom my brother has asked me to take into my custody." 'Abd bin Zam'a got up before him and said, (He is) my brother and the son of the slave girl of my father, and was born on my father's bed." So they both submitted their case before Allah's Apostle. Sa'd said, "O Allah's Apostle! This boy is the son of my brother and he entrusted him to me." 'Abd bin Zam'a said, "This boy is my brother and the son of the slave girl of my father, and was born on the bed of my father." Allah's Apostle said, "The boy is for you, O 'Abd bin Zam'a!" Then Allah's Apostle further said, "The child is for the owner of the bed, and the stone is for the adulterer," He then said to Sauda bint Zam'a, "Veil (screen) yourself before him," when he saw the child's resemblance to 'Utba. The boy did not see her again till he met Allah.

— 9:89:293

Other hadith collections on zina between men and woman include:

* The stoning (Rajm) of a Jewish man and woman for having committed illegal sexual intercourse.[26]
* Abu Hurairah states that the Prophet, in a case of intercourse between a young man and a married woman, sentenced the woman to stoning[27] and the young man to flogging and banishment for a year.

### Rape

Rape has been defined as zina al-jabr (forceful illicit sex) in the traditional Islamic texts. Few hadiths have been found regarding rape in the time of Muhammad. The most popular transmitted hadith given below indicates the ordinance of stoning for the rapist but no punishment and no requirement of four eyewitnesses for the rape victim.[28][29]

> Narrated 'Alqamah bin Wa'il Al-Kindi: From his father: "A woman went out during the time of the Prophet (ﷺ) to go to Salat, but she was caught by a man and he had relations with her, so she screamed and he left. Then a man came across her and she said: 'That man has done this and that to me', then she came across a group of Emigrants (Muhajirin) and she said: 'That man did this and that to me.' They went to get the man she thought had relations with her, and they brought him to her. She said: 'Yes, that's him.' So they brought him to the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ), and when he ordered that he be stoned, the man who had relations with her, said: 'O Messenger of Allah, I am the one who had relations with her.' So he said to her: 'Go, for Allah has forgiven you.' Then he said some nice words to the man (who was brought). And he said to the man who had relations with her: 'Stone him.' Then he said: 'He has repented a repentance that, if the inhabitants of Al-Madinah had repented with, it would have been accepted from them.'"

— Jami` at-Tirmidhi, 17:37, 38:4366

The hadiths declare rape of a free or slave woman as zina.[30]

#### View of scholars

> Malik related to me from Nafi that a slave was in charge of the slaves in the khumus and he forced a slave-girl among those slaves against her will and had intercourse with her. Umar ibn al-Khattab had him flogged and banished him, and he did not flog the slave-girl because the slave had forced her.

— 1:85:81,[31]41 3.15

> Malik related to me from Ibn Shihab that gave a judgment that the rapist had to pay the raped woman her bride-price. Yahya said that he heard Malik say, "What is done in our community about the man who rapes a woman, virgin or non-virgin, if she is free, is that he must pay the bride-price of the like of her. If she is a slave, he must pay what he has diminished of her worth. The hadd-punishment in such cases is applied to the rapist, and there is no punishment applied to the raped woman. If the rapist is a slave, that is against his master unless he wishes to surrender him."

— 36 16.14

If a confession or the four witnesses required to prove a hadd crime are not available, but rape can be proved by other means, the rapist is sentenced under the ta'zir system of judicial discretion.[32] According to the eleventh-century Maliki jurist Ibn 'Abd al-Barr:[32]

> The scholars are unanimously agreed that the rapist is to be subjected to the hadd punishment if there is clear evidence against him that he deserves the hadd punishment, or if he admits to that. Otherwise, he is to be punished (i.e., if there is no proof that the hadd punishment for zina may be carried out against him because he does not confess, and there are not four witnesses, then the judge may punish him and stipulate a punishment that will deter him and others like him). There is no punishment for the woman if it is true that he forced her and overpowered her, which may be proven by her screaming and shouting for help.

— Al-Istidhkaar, 7/146

### Homosexuality

Islamic teachings (in the hadith tradition[33]) presume same-sex attraction, extol abstention and (in the Qur'an[34][33]) condemn consummation. The Quran forbids homosexual relationships, in Al-Nisa, Al-Araf (verses 7:80–84, 11:69–83, 29:28–35 of the Quran using the story of Lot's people), and other surahs. For example,[34][33][35]

> We also sent Lot: He said to his people: "Do ye commit lewdness such as no people in creation (ever) committed before you? For ye practice your lusts on men in preference to women: ye are indeed a people transgressing beyond bounds."

— Quran 7:80–81

In another verse, the statement of prophet Lot has been also pointed out,

> Do you approach males among the worlds And leave what your Lord has created for you as mates? But you are a people transgressing.

— Quran 26:165–166, trans. Sahih International

Some scholars indicate this verse as the prescribed punishment for homosexuality in the Quran:

> "If two (men) among you are guilty of lewdness, punish them both. If they repent and amend, Leave them alone; for Allah is Oft-returning, Most Merciful."

— Qur'an, Sura 4 (Al-Nisa), ayat 16[36]

However, there are different interpretations of the last verse where who the Quran refers to as "two among you". Pakistani scholar Javed Ahmed Ghamidi sees it as a reference to premarital sexual relationships between men and women. In his opinion, the preceding Ayat of Sura Nisa deals with prostitutes of the time. He believes these rulings were temporary and were abrogated later when a functioning state was established and society was ready for permanent rulings, which came in Sura Nur, Ayat 2 and 3, prescribing flogging as a punishment for adultery. He does not see stoning as a prescribed punishment, even for married men, and considers the Hadiths quoted supporting that view to be dealing with either rape or prostitution, where the strictest punishment under Islam for spreading "fasad fil ardh", meaning corruption in the land, referring to egregious acts of defiance to the rule of law was carried out.[citation needed]

The Hadiths consider homosexuality as zina,[37] and male homosexuality to be punished with death.[citation needed] For example, Abu Dawud states,[33][not specific enough to verify][38][page needed]

> From Abu Musa al-Ash'ari, the Prophet states that: "If a woman comes upon a woman, they are both adulteresses, if a man comes upon a man, then they are both adulterers.”

— Al-Tabarani in al-Mu‘jam al-Awat: 4157, Al-Bayhaqi, Su‘ab al-Iman: 5075

> Narrated Abdullah ibn Abbas: The Prophet said: If you find anyone doing as Lot's people did,[39] kill the one who does it, and the one to whom it is done.

— 38:4447

> Narrated Abdullah ibn Abbas: If a man who is not married is seized committing sodomy, he will be stoned to death.

— 38:4448

The discourse on homosexuality in Islam is primarily concerned with activities between men. There are, however, a few hadith mentioning homosexual behavior in women;[40][41] The jurists are agreed that "there is no hadd punishment for lesbianism, because it is not zina. Rather a ta’zeer punishment must be imposed, because it is a sin..'".[citation needed] Although punishment for lesbianism is rarely mentioned in the histories, al-Tabari records an example of the casual execution of a pair of lesbian slavegirls in the harem of al-Hadi, in a collection of highly critical anecdotes pertaining to that Caliph's actions as ruler.[42] Some jurists viewed sexual intercourse as possible only for an individual who possesses a phallus;[43] hence those definitions of sexual intercourse that rely on the entry of as little as the corona of the phallus into a partner's orifice.[43] Since women do not possess a phallus and cannot have intercourse with one another, they are, in this interpretation, physically incapable of committing zina.[43]

### Anal sex

All Sunni Muslim jurists agree that anal sex is haram (prohibited), based on the hadith of Muhammad.[44] In contrast, according to Twelver Shia Muslim jurists, anal sex is considered makruh (strongly disliked) but is permissible with the consent of the wife.[45]

Many scholars point to the story of Lot in the Quran as an example of sodomy being an egregious sin. However multiple others hold the view that the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah was not specifically due to the sodomy practiced in those towns, but as a combination of multiple transgressions. The death by stoning for people of Sodom and Gomorrah is similar to the stoning punishment stipulated for illegal heterosexual sex. There is no punishment for a man who sodomizes a woman because it is not tied to procreation. However, other jurists insist that any act of lust in which the result is the injecting of semen into another person constitutes sexual intercourse.[46]

Sodomy often falls under that same category as sex between and unmarried man and women engaging in sexual acts. Male-male intercourse is referred to as liwat while female-female intercourse is referred to as sihaq. Both are considered reprehensible acts but there is no consensus on punishment for either. Some jurists define zināʾ exclusively as the act of unlawful vaginal penetration, hence categorizing and punishing anal penetration in different ways. Other jurists included both vaginal and anal penetration within the definition of zināʾ and hence extended the punishment of the one to the other.[43]

Religious discourse has mostly focused on such sexual acts, which are unambiguously condemned. The Quran refers explicitly to male-male sexual relations only in the context of the story of Lot, but labels the Sodomites's actions (universally understood in the later tradition as anal intercourse) an "abomination" (female-female relations are not addressed). Reported pronouncements by Muhammad (hadith) reinforce the interdiction on male-male sodomy, although there are no reports of his ever adjudicating an actual case of such an offence; he is also quoted as condemning cross-gender behaviour for both sexes and banishing them from local places, but it is unclear to what extent this is to be understood as involving sexual relations. Several early caliphs, confronted with cases of sodomy between males, are said to have had both partners executed, by a variety of means. While taking such precedents into account, medieval jurists were unable to achieve a consensus on this issue; some legal schools prescribed capital punishment for sodomy, but others opted only for a relatively mild discretionary punishment. There was general agreement, however, that other homosexual acts (including any between females) were lesser offences, subject only to discretionary punishment.[47]

### Incest

Hadith forbids incestuous relationship (zinā bi'l-mahārim), sexual intercourse between someone who is mahram and prescribes execution as punishment.[7][8]

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### Masturbation

Islamic scripture does not specifically mention masturbation. There are a few hadiths mentioning it, but these are classified as unreliable.[48]

### Bestiality

According to hadith, bestiality is defined under zina and its punishment is execution of the accused man or woman along with the animal.[2][9]

> {{{1}}}

## Inclusions in the definition

Zina encompasses any sexual intercourse except that between husband and wife. It includes both extramarital sex and premarital sex, and is often translated as "fornication" in English.[49]

Technically, zina only refers to the act of penetration, while non-penetrative sex acts outside of marriage were censured by the Prophet as that which can lead to zina.[17][50]

According to Sharia, the punishment for zina varies according to whether the offender is muhsan (adult, free, Muslim and married at least once) or not muhsan (i.e. a minor, a slave, a non-Muslim or never married). A person only qualifies as muhsan if he or she meets all of the criteria. The punishment for an offender who is muhsan is stoning. (rajm); the punishment for an offender who is not muhsan is 100 lashes. [51]

## Accusation process and punishment

Islamic law requires evidence before a man or a woman can be punished for zina. These are:[49][page needed][23][52]

1. A Muslim confesses to zina four separate times. However, if the confessor takes back his words before the punishment is enforced or during the punishment, he/she will be released and set free. The confessor is in fact encouraged to take back their confession.[53][54]
2. Four free adult male Muslim witnesses of proven integrity. They must testify that they observed the couple engaged in unlawful sexual intercourse without any doubt or ambiguity. They are able to say that they saw their private parts meet "like the Kohl needle entering the Kohl bottle."
3. Unlike witnesses in most other circumstances, they are neither legally nor morally obliged to testify, and in fact legal texts state that it is morally better if they don't.
4. If any of the witnesses take back their testimony before the actual punishment is enforced, then the punishment will be abandoned, and the witnesses will be punished for the crime of false accusation.
5. The witnesses must give their testimony at the earliest opportunity.
6. If the offense is punished by stoning to death, the witnesses must throw the stones.

If a pregnant woman confesses that her baby was born from an illegal relationship then she will be subject to conviction in the Islamic courts. In cases where there are no witnesses and no confession then the woman will not receive punishment just because of pregnancy. Women can fall pregnant without committing illegal sexual intercourse. A woman could be raped or coerced. In this case, she is a victim and not the perpetrator of a crime. Therefore, she cannot be punished or even accused of misconduct merely on the strength of her falling pregnant.[54][55][56]

The four witnesses requirement for zina is revealed by Quranic verses 24:11 through 24:13 and various hadiths.[57][58] The testimony of women and non-Muslims is not admitted in cases of zina or in other hadd crimes.

Any witness to or victim of non-consensual sexual intercourse, who accuses a Muslim of zina, but fails to produce four adult, pious male eyewitnesses before a sharia court, commits the crime of false accusation (Qadhf, القذف), punishable with eighty lashes in public.[59][60]

These requirements made zina virtually impossible to prove in practice.[1] Hence, there are very few recorded examples of stoning for zina being legally carried out.[1][13] In the 623-year history of the Ottoman Empire, the best-documented and most well-known pre-modern Islamic legal system, there is only one recorded example of the stoning punishment being applied for zina, when a Muslim woman and her Jewish lover were convicted of zina in 1680 and sentenced to death, the woman by stoning and the man by beheading. This was a miscarriage of justice according to the standards of Islamic law: adequate evidence was not produced, and the correct penalty for non-Muslims was 100 lashes rather than death.[61]

Some schools of Islamic jurisprudence (fiqh) created the principle of shubha (doubt). According to this principle, if there is room for doubt in the perpetrator's mind about whether the sexual act was illegal, he or she should not receive the hadd penalty, but could receive a less severe punishment at the discretion of the judge.[23] Jurists had varying opinions on what counted as legitimate "doubt" for this purposes. A typical example is a man who has sex with his wife's or his son's slave. This is zina \- a man can lawfully have sex only with his own slave. But a man might plausibly believe that he had ownership rights over his wife's or his son's property, and so think that having sex with their slaves was legal. The Ḥanafī jurists of the Ottoman Empire applied the concept of doubt to exempt prostitution from the hadd penalty. Their rationale was that since legal sex is legitimized, in part, by payment (the dower paid by the husband to the wife upon marriage, or the purchase price of a slave), a man might plausibly believe that prostitution, which also involves a payment in return for sexual access, was legal.[62] It is important to note that this principle did not mean that such acts were treated as legal: they remained offenses, and could be punished, but they were not liable for the hadd penalty of 100 lashes or stoning.

### Sunni practice

Persons who are not muhsan (i.e. a slave, a minor, never married) are punished for zina with one hundred lashes in public.[38][page needed][63]

Maliki school of Islamic jurisprudence considers pregnancy as sufficient and automatic evidence, unless there is evidence of rape. Other Sunni schools of jurisprudence rely on early Islamic scholars that state that a fetus can "sleep and stop developing for 5 years in a womb", and thus a woman who was previously married but now divorced may not have committed zina even if she delivers a baby years after her divorce.[64] They also argue that the woman may have been forced or coerced (see section above, 'Accusation process and punishment'). The position of modern Islamic scholars varies from country to country. For example, in Malaysia which officially follows the Shafi'i fiqh, Section 23(2) through 23(4) of the Syariah (Sharia) Criminal Offences (Federal Territories) Act 1997 state,[65]

> Section 23(2) \- Any woman who performs sexual intercourse with a man who is not her lawful husband shall be guilty of an offence and shall on conviction be liable to a fine not exceeding five thousand ringgit or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding three years or to whipping not exceeding six strokes or to any combination thereof.

> Section 23(3) \- The fact that a woman is pregnant out of wedlock as a result of sexual intercourse performed with her consent shall be prima facie evidence of the commission of an offence under subsection (2) by that woman.

> Section 23(4) \- For the purpose of subsection (3), any woman who gives birth to a fully developed child within a period of six qamariah months from the date of her marriage shall be deemed to have been pregnant out of wedlock.

— Islamic Laws of Malaysia[66]

Minimal proof for zina is still the testimony of four male eyewitnesses, even in the case of homosexual intercourse.[citation needed]

Prosecution of extramarital pregnancy as zina, as well as prosecution of rape victims for the crime of zina, have been the source of worldwide controversy in recent years.[67][68]

### Shi'a practice

Again, minimal proof for zina is the testimony of four male eyewitnesses. The Shi'is, however, also allow the testimony of women, if there is at least one male witness, testifying together with six women. All witnesses must have seen the act in its most intimate details, i.e. the penetration (like "a stick disappearing in a kohl container," as the fiqh books specify). If their testimonies do not satisfy the requirements, they can be sentenced to eighty lashes for unfounded accusation of fornication (kadhf). If the accused freely admits the offense, the confession must be repeated four times, just as in Sunni practice. Pregnancy of a single woman is also sufficient evidence of her having committed zina.[34][need quotation to verify]

## Human rights controversy

Muslim-majority regions with zina laws against consensual premarital and extramarital sex.[69][70][page needed]

The zina and rape laws of countries under Sharia law are the subjects of a global human rights debate.[71][72]

Hundreds of women in Afghan jails are victims of rape or domestic violence.[68] This has been criticized as leading to "hundreds of incidents where a woman subjected to rape, or gang rape, was eventually accused of zināʾ" and incarcerated.[73]

In Pakistan, over 200,000 zina cases against women, under its Hudood laws, were under process at various levels in Pakistan's legal system in 2005.[67] In addition to thousands of women in prison awaiting trial for zina-related charges, there has been a severe reluctance to even report rape because the victim fears of being charged with zina, because of the un-Islamic nature of Pakistani laws regarding sexual intercourse. Under Islamic laws, rape is not considered to be zina and no punishment falls on the victim. But rape falls under zina in Pakistani law introduced in the 1980s and sometimes becomes punishable. [not specific enough to verify]

Iran has prosecuted many cases of zina, and enforced public stoning to death of those accused between 2001 and 2010.[74][75]

Zina laws are one of many items of reform and secularization debate with respect to Islam.[76][77] In the early 20th century, under the influence of the colonial era, many penal laws and criminal justice systems were reformed away from Sharia in Muslim-majority parts of the world. By contrast, in the second half of the 20th century, after respective independence, a number of governments including Pakistan, Morocco, Malaysia and Iran have reverted to Sharia with traditional interpretations of Islam's sacred texts. Zina and hudud laws have been re-enacted and enforced.[78]

Contemporary human right activists refer this as a new phase in the politics of gender in Islam, the battle between forces of traditionalism and modernism in the Muslim world, and the use of religious texts of Islam through state laws to sanction and practice gender-based violence.[79][80]

In contrast to human rights activists, Islamic scholars and Islamist political parties consider 'universal human rights' arguments as impositions of a non-Muslim culture on Muslim people, a disrespect of customary cultural practices and sexual codes that are central to Islam. Zina laws come under hudud - seen as a crime against Allah; the Islamists refer to this pressure and proposals to reform zina and other laws as contrary to Islam. Attempts by international human rights to reform religious laws and codes of Islam has become the Islamist rallying platforms during political campaigns.[81][82]

## In popular culture

* The Stoning of Soraya M. - A 2008 Persian-language American drama film adapted from French-Iranian journalist Freidoune Sahebjam's 1990 book La Femme Lapidée, regarding to a mistaken-punishment of a false zina accusation.

## See also

* Islamic criminal jurisprudence
* Islamic family jurisprudence
* Islamic sexual jurisprudence
* Modesty in Islam
* Namus
* Nikah mut‘ah
* Nikah urfi
* Ma malakat aymanukum and sex
* Rajm
* Repentance in Islam
* Sex and the law

## References

1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 1.7 1.8 Semerdjian, Elyse (2009). "Zinah". in John L. Esposito. The Oxford Encyclopedia of the Islamic World. Oxford: Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/acref/9780195305135.001.0001. ISBN 9780195305135. http://www.oxfordreference.com/view/10.1093/acref/9780195305135.001.0001/acref-9780195305135-e-0984.
2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 Semerdjian, Elyse (2008) (in en). "Off the Straight Path": Illicit Sex, Law, and Community in Ottoman Aleppo. Syracuse University Press. p. 53. ISBN 9780815651550. https://books.google.com/books?id=cZzuBMnBKfUC&q=bestiality+zina&pg=PA53. Retrieved 13 July 2019.
3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 Khan, Shahnaz (2011) (in en). Zina, Transnational Feminism, and the Moral Regulation of Pakistani Women. UBC Press. p. 8. ISBN 9780774841184. https://books.google.com/books?id=9IfJl4J7MAgC&q=adultery+fornication+zina&pg=PA8. Retrieved 13 July 2019.
4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 Akande, Habeeb (2015) (in en). A Taste of Honey: Sexuality and Erotology in Islam. Rabaah Publishers. p. 145. ISBN 9780957484511. https://books.google.com/books?id=XKyPCgAAQBAJ&q=adultery+fornication+zina&pg=PA145.
5. ↑ Meri, Josef W. (2006) (in en). Medieval Islamic Civilization: L-Z, index. Taylor & Francis. p. 646. ISBN 9780415966924. https://books.google.com/books?id=LaV-IGZ8VKIC&q=prostitution+zina&pg=PA646.
6. ↑ Habib, Samar (2010) (in en). Islam and Homosexuality (1st ed.). ABC-CLIO. p. 211. ISBN 9780313379031. https://books.google.com/books?id=9y_TyzK9_5oC&q=homosexuality+zina&pg=PA211. Retrieved 12 July 2019.
7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 Clarke, Morgan (2009) (in en). Islam and New Kinship: Reproductive Technology and the Shariah in Lebanon. Berghahn Books. p. 41. ISBN 9781845454326. https://books.google.com/books?id=MwreDKOTXM8C&q=incest+zina&pg=PA42. Retrieved 13 July 2019.
8. ↑ 8.0 8.1 Kamali, Mohammad Hashim (2019) (in en). Crime and Punishment in Islamic Law: A Fresh Interpretation. Oxford University Press. p. 94. ISBN 9780190910648. https://books.google.com/books?id=ZNGaDwAAQBAJ&q=incest+zina&pg=PA94. Retrieved 13 July 2019.
9. ↑ 9.0 9.1 Ahmed, Syed (1999) (in en). Law relating to fornication (Zina) in the Islamic legal system: a comparative study. Andhra Legal Decisions. p. 3,71,142. https://books.google.com/books?id=N24mAQAAIAAJ&q=bestiality+zina.
10. ↑ Peters, Rudolph (2006). Crime and Punishment in Islamic Law: Theory and Practice from the Sixteenth to the Twenty-First Century. Cambridge University Press. pp. 53–55. ISBN 978-0521796705.
11. ↑ 11.0 11.1 A. Quraishi (1999), Her honour: an Islamic critique of the rape provisions in Pakistan's ordinance on zina, Islamic studies, Vol. 38, No. 3, pp. 403–431
12. ↑ Peters, Rudolph (2006). Crime and Punishment in Islamic Law: : Theory and Practice from the Sixteenth to the Twenty-First Century. Cambridge University Press. p. 63. ISBN 978-0521796705.
13. ↑ 13.0 13.1 13.2 Semerdjian, Elyse (2013). "Zinah". The Oxford Encyclopedia of Islam and Women. Oxford: Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/acref:oiso/9780199764464.001.0001. ISBN 9780199764464. http://www.oxfordreference.com/view/10.1093/acref:oiso/9780199764464.001.0001/acref-9780199764464-e-0406.
14. ↑ Vikør, Knut S. (2014). "Sharīʿah". in Emad El-Din Shahin. The Oxford Encyclopedia of Islam and Politics. Oxford University Press. http://bridgingcultures.neh.gov/muslimjourneys/items/show/226. Retrieved 2017-02-25.
15. ↑ Gunnar J. Weimann (2010). Islamic Criminal Law in Northern Nigeria: Politics, Religion, Judicial Practice. Amsterdam University Press. p. 77. ISBN 9789056296551. https://books.google.com/books?id=2joqx6vG74cC&pg=PA77.
16. ↑ "Pakistan Toughens Laws on Rape and 'Honor Killings' of Women". The New York Times. Oct 6, 2016. https://www.nytimes.com/2016/10/07/world/asia/pakistan-toughens-laws-on-rape-and-honor-killings-of-women.html.
17. ↑ 17.0 17.1 Peters, R. (2012). "Zinā or Zināʾ". in P. Bearman. Encyclopaedia of Islam (2nd ed.). Brill. doi:10.1163/1573-3912_islam_SIM_8168.
18. ↑ Reza Aslan (2004), "The Problem of Stoning in the Islamic Penal Code: An Argument for Reform", UCLA Journal of Islamic and Near East Law, Vol 3, No. 1, pp. 91–119
19. ↑ "How Islam Views Adultery". https://archive.islamonline.net/1027.
20. ↑ Quran 17:32
21. ↑ Quran 24:2
22. ↑ Quran 24:4–5
23. ↑ 23.0 23.1 23.2 Z. Mir-Hosseini (2011), Criminalizing sexuality: zina laws as violence against women in Muslim contexts, SUR-Int'l Journal on Human Rights, 8(15), pp. 7–33
24. ↑ Ziba Mir-Hosseini (2001), Marriage on Trial: A Study of Islamic Family Law, ISBN 978-1860646089, pp. 140–223
25. ↑ Hina Azam (2012), Rape as a Variant of Fornication (Zina) in Islamic Law: An Examination of the Early Legal Reports, Journal of Law & Religion, Volume 28, 441–459
26. ↑ 2:23:413
27. ↑ Understanding Islamic Law By Raj Bhala, LexisNexis, May 24, 2011
28. ↑ Bouhdiba, Abdelwahab (1985). Sexuality in Islam. Saqi Books. pp. 288. ISBN 9780863564932.
29. ↑ Khan, Muhammad Aftab (2006). Sex and Sexuality in Islam. The University of Michigan: Nashriyat. pp. 764. ISBN 9789698983048.
30. ↑ Abiad, Nisrine (2008). Sharia, Muslim States and International Human Rights Treaty Obligations: A Comparative Study. pp. 136.
31. ↑ "Bukhari, Book: 89 - Statements made under Coercion, Chapter 6: If a woman is compelled to commit illegal sexual intercourse against her will". sunnah.com. http://sunnah.com/bukhari/89/10.
32. ↑ 32.0 32.1 "Rape against Muslim Women". http://www.irfi.org/articles/articles_351_400/rape_against_muslim_women.htm.
33. ↑ 33.0 33.1 33.2 33.3 Stephen O. Murray and Will Roscoe (1997), Islamic Homosexualities: Culture, History, and Literature, ISBN 978-0814774687, New York University Press, pp. 88–94
34. ↑ 34.0 34.1 34.2 Camilla Adang (2003), Ibn Hazam on Homosexuality, Al Qantara, Vol. 25, No. 1, p. 531
35. ↑ Michaelson, Jay (2011). God Vs. Gay? The Religious Case for Equality. Boston: Beacon Press. pp. 68–69. ISBN 9780807001592. https://archive.org/details/godvsgayreligiou00mich/page/68.
36. ↑ Quran 4:16
37. ↑ "Hadith Sahih on Behaviour of LGBT" (in en). Government of Malaysia. http://www.islam.gov.my/images/ePenerbitan/Hadis-hadis_Sahih_Berkaitan_Perlakuan_LGBT_BI.pdf.
38. ↑ 38.0 38.1 Mohamed S. El-Awa (1993), Punishment In Islamic Law, American Trust Publications, ISBN 978-0892591428
39. ↑ The sunnah and surah describe the Lot's people in context of homosexuality and sodomy such as any form of sex between a man and woman that does not involve penetration of man's penis in woman's vagina.
40. ↑ Al-Hurr al-Aamili. "Wasā'il al-Shīʿa" (in ar). Wasā'il al-Shīʿa. Hadith number 34467-34481.
41. ↑ Atighetchi, Dariusch (2007) (in en). Islamic bioethics problems and perspectives. New York: Springer Science & Business Media. p. 149. ISBN 9781402049620. https://books.google.com/books?id=Tdm9V89lW3IC&pg=PA149. Retrieved 13 July 2017.
42. ↑ Bosworth, C.E. (1989). The History of al-Tabari Vol. 30: The 'Abbasid Caliphate in Equilibrium: The Caliphates of Musa al-Hadi and Harun al-Rashid A.D. 785–809/A.H. 169–193. SUNY Press. ISBN 9780887065644. https://books.google.com/books?id=wqf1gwM9O58C&q=Tabari+lesbian+Caliph+al-Hadi&pg=PA73.
43. ↑ 43.0 43.1 43.2 43.3 Omar, Sara. "The Oxford Encyclopedia of Islam and Law". Oxford Islamic Studies Online. http://www.oxfordislamicstudies.com/article/opr/t349/e0010.
44. ↑ Drissner, Gerald (2016) (in en). Islam for Nerds: 500 Questions and Answers. pochemuchka (Gerald Drissner). p. 679. ISBN 978-3-9819848-4-2. https://books.google.com/books?id=odXkDwAAQBAJ&q=anal+islam&pg=PA679. Retrieved 6 June 2020.
45. ↑ "From Marriage to Parenthood The Heavenly Path - Chapter 2: Sexual Etiquette". 30 January 2013. https://www.al-islam.org/marriage-parenthood-heavenly-path/chapter-2-sexual-etiquette.
46. ↑ Joseph, Suad (2006). Encyclopedia of Women and Islamic Cultures. Leiden, Boston: Brill.
47. ↑ Rowson, Everett. "Encyclopedia of Islam and the Muslim World". Macmillan Reference USA. http://go.galegroup.com/ps/i.do?id=GALE|CX3403500196&v=2.1&it=r&p=GVRL&sw=w.
48. ↑ Omar, Sara. "[Sexuality and Law"]. Oxford Islamic Studies Online. http://www.oxfordislamicstudies.com/Public/Login.html?url=/app?service=externalpagemethod&page;=ArticleViewDispatch&method;=view&uri;=/opr/t349/e0011&failReason=.
49. ↑ 49.0 49.1 Kecia Ali (2006), Sexual Ethics and Islam, ISBN 978-1851684564, Chapter 4
50. ↑ "What's the Classical Definition of Zina?" (in en-US). 2003-05-13. http://www.understanding-islam.com/what-s-the-classical-definition-of-zina/.
51. ↑ Rudolph Peters, Crime and Punishment in Islamic Law, Cambridge University Press, 2005 ISBN 9780511610677, ch. 2
52. ↑ 17:4194
53. ↑ al-Ikhtiyar li ta'lil al-Mukhtar. pp. 2/311–316.
54. ↑ 54.0 54.1 Sengupta, Somini (2003-09-26). "Facing Death for Adultery, Nigerian Woman Is Acquitted". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. https://www.nytimes.com/2003/09/26/world/facing-death-for-adultery-nigerian-woman-is-acquitted.html.
55. ↑ "Pregnancy not proof of fornication | IslamToday - English". http://en.islamtoday.net/node/1075.
56. ↑ Qudamah, Ibn. Al-Mughni.
57. ↑ Quran 24:13, Kerby Anderson (2007), Islam, Harvest House ISBN 978-0736921176, pp. 87–88
58. ↑ 36 19.17, 36 19.18, 41 1.7
59. ↑ J. Campo (2009), Encyclopedia of Islam, ISBN 978-0816054541, pp. 13–14
60. ↑ R. Mehdi (1997), The offence of rape in the Islamic law of Pakistan, Women Living under Muslim Laws: Dossier, 18, pp. 98–108
61. ↑ Marc Baer, "Death in the Hippodrome: Sexual Politics and Legal Culture in the Reign of Mehmed IV," Past & Present 210, 2011, pp. 61-91 doi:10.1093/pastj/gtq062
62. ↑ James E. Baldwin (2012), Prostitution, Islamic Law and Ottoman Societies, Journal of the Economic and Social History of the Orient, 55, pp. 117–52
63. ↑ Kecia Ali, Marriage and Slavery in Early Islam. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press
64. ↑ JANSEN, W. (2000), Sleeping in the Womb: Protracted Pregnancies in the Maghreb, The Muslim World, n. 90, p. 218–237
65. ↑ Laws of Malaysia SYARIAH CRIMINAL OFFENCES (FEDERAL TERRITORIES) ACT 1997, Government of Malaysia
66. ↑ CEDAW and Malaysia Women's Aid Organization, United Nations Report (April 2012), page 83–85
67. ↑ 67.0 67.1 Pakistan Human Rights Watch (2005)
68. ↑ 68.0 68.1 Afghanistan - Moral Crimes Human Rights Watch (2012); Quote "Some women and girls have been convicted of zina, sex outside of marriage, after being raped or forced into prostitution. Zina is a crime under Afghan law, punishable by up to 15 years in prison."
69. ↑ Ziba Mir-Hosseini (2011), Criminalizing sexuality: zina laws as violence against women in Muslim contexts, SUR - Int'l Journal on Human Rights, 15, pp. 7–31
70. ↑ Haideh Moghissi (2005), Women and Islam: Part 4 Women, sexuality and sexual politics in Islamic cultures, Taylor & Francis, ISBN 0-415-32420-3
71. ↑ KUGLE (2003), Sexuality, diversity and ethics in the agenda of progressive Muslims, In: SAFI, O. (Ed.). Progressive Muslims: On Justice, Gender, and Pluralism, Oxford: Oneworld. pp. 190–234
72. ↑ LAU, M. (2007), Twenty-Five Years of Hudood Ordinances: A Review, Washington and Lee Law Review, n. 64, pp. 1291–1314
73. ↑ "National Commission on the status of women's report on Hudood Ordinance 1979". http://www.hrcp-web.org/NCSW_Report.cfm.
74. ↑ BAGHI, E. (2007) The Bloodied Stone: Execution by Stoning International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran
75. ↑ End Executions by Stoning - An Appeal AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL, 15 Jan 2010
76. ↑ Rehman J. (2007), The sharia, Islamic family laws and international human rights law: Examining the theory and practice of polygamy and talaq, International Journal of Law, Policy and the Family, 21(1), pp. 108–127
77. ↑ SAFWAT (1982), Offences and Penalties in Islamic Law. Islamic Quarterly, vol. 26, no. 3, pp. 149–181
78. ↑ Weiss A. M. (2003), Interpreting Islam and women's rights implementing CEDAW in Pakistan, International Sociology, 18(3), pp. 581–601
79. ↑ KAMALI (1998), Punishment in Islamic Law: A Critique of the Hudud Bill of Kelantan Malaysia, Arab Law Quarterly, vol. 13, no. 3, pp. 203–234
80. ↑ QURAISHI, A (1996), Her Honor: An Islamic Critique of the Rape Laws of Pakistan from a Woman-Sensitive Perspective, Michigan Journal of International Law, vol. 18, pp. 287–320
81. ↑ A. SAJOO (1999), Islam and Human Rights: Congruence or Dichotomy, Temple International and Comparative Law Journal, vol. 4, pp. 23–34
82. ↑ K. ALI (2003), Progressive Muslims and Islamic Jurisprudence: The Necessity for Critical Engagement with Marriage and Divorce Law, In: SAFI, O. (Ed.). Progressive Muslims: On Justice, Gender, and Pluralism, Oxford: Oneworld, pp. 163–189

## Further reading

* Calder, Norman, Colin Imber, and R. Gleave. Islamic Jurisprudence in the Classical Era. Cambridge, U.K.: Cambridge UP, 2010.
* Johnson, Toni, and Lauren Vriens, "Islam: Governing Under Sharia.", Council on Foreign Relations. Council on Foreign Relations, Inc., 24 Oct. 2011. Web. 19 Nov. 2011.
* Karamah: Muslim Women Lawyers for Human Rights, "Zina, Rape, and Islamic Law: An Islamic Legal Analysis of the Rape Laws in Pakistan." 26 Nov. 2011.
* Khan, Shahnaz. "Locating The Feminist Voice: The Debate On The Zina Ordinance." Feminist Studies 30.3 (2004): 660–685. Academic Search Complete. Web. 28 Nov. 2011.
* McAuliffe, Jane Dammen. The Cambridge Companion to the Qurʼān. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge UP, 2006
* Peters, R. "Zinā or Zināʾ (a.)." Encyclopaedia of Islam, Second Edition. Edited by: P. Bearman;, Th. Bianquis;, C.E. Bosworth;, E. van Donzel; and W.P. Heinrichs. Brill, 2011. Brill Online. UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS AT AUSTIN. 17 November 2011
* Peters, R. "The Islamization of criminal law: A comparative analysis", in WI, xxxiv (1994), 246–74.
* Quraishi, Asifa. "Islamic Legal Analysis of Zina Punishment of Bariya Ibrahim Magazu, Zamfara, Nigeria." Muslim Women's League. Muslim Women's League, 20 Jan. 2001

## External links

* Zina prosecution in Katsina State, Northern Nigeria Proceedings and Judgments in the Amina Lawal Case (2002)
* Sharia Law
* Articles and Opinions: American Muslims need to speak out against violations of Islamic Shariah law (Asma Society)
* Understanding Islamic Law: From Classical to Contemporary - Zina Chapter, p. 43, at Google Books, Hisham M. Ramadan
* Afghanistan: Surge in Women Jailed for ‘Moral Crimes’ Zina in Afghanistan, Human Rights Watch (May 21, 2013)
* Mukhtar Mai - history of a rape case, Pakistan, BBC News
* Fate of another royal found guilty of adultery Zina in Saudi Arabia, The Independent (2009), UK

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