Zina a single term with lots of meanings. We think Zina is just unlawful. But do you think it is? What is zina? When is it said that a person has committed zina? Questions like these have become common as our societies become more liberal and zina is becoming more common practice.
Zina means fornication and adultery, and it is considered a major sin in Islam. Fornication is the sexual intercourse that takes place between two people who are not married to each other, and adultery is sexual intercourse between two people, one or both of which are married, but not married to their co-adulterer.
“And come not near to unlawful sex. Verily, it is a Faahishah (i.e. anything that transgresses its limits: a great sin), and an evil way that leads one to hell unless Allah forgives him”(al-Isra’ 17:32)
This is a verse of the Quran where Allah (ta’ala) specifically forbids zina. In fact, according to many texts, zina is a great sin just after shirk and murder, and graver than alcohol or gambling.
“And those who invoke not any other ilaah (god) along with Allah, nor kill such person as Allah has forbidden, except for just cause, nor commit illegal sexual intercourse” [al-Furqaan 25:68].
Zina is mentioned along with shirk and murder, two of the greatest sins in Islam.
According to Islamic definition it’s a legal term referring to unlawful sexual intercourse. According to traditional jurisprudence, Zina can include adultery, fornication, prostitution, rape, sodomy, homosexuality, incest, and bestiality. The Quran disapproved of the promiscuity prevailing in Arabia at the time, and several verses refer to unlawful sexual intercourse, including one that prescribes the punishment of 100 lashes for fornicators. Four witnesses are required to prove the offense. Zina thus belongs to the class of hadd (pl. hudud) crimes which have Quranically specified punishments. According to traditional jurisprudence, Zina must be proved by testimony of four eyewitnesses to the actual act of penetration, or a confession repeated four times and not retracted later. Rape was traditionally prosecuted under different legal categories which used normal evidentiary rules. Making an accusation of Zina without presenting the required eyewitnesses is called qadhf, which is itself a hadd crime.
Muslim scholars have historically considered Zina a hudud sin, or crime against God. It is mentioned in both Quran and in the Hadiths. The Qur'an deals with zināʾ in several places. First is the Qur'anic general rule that commands Muslims not to commit zināʾ:
"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 3
In the Hadiths, the definitions of zina have been described as all the forms of sexual intercourse, penetrative or non-penetrative, outside the institution marriage or the institution of slavery.
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:
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 Sura an-Nur (the Light). The Sura starts by giving very specific rules about punishment for zināʾ:
"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."
