Transliteration:( Wa yadra'u anhal 'azaaba an tashhada arba'a shahaa daatim billaahi innahoo laminal kaazibeen )
“And the punishment [16] shall avert from the wife if she bears witness four times in the name of Allah that the man is a liar. [17]”
The punishment mentioned here refers to the Hadd (fixed punishment) for adultery, specifically Rajm (stoning to death) in the case of a chaste married woman.
In this situation, the woman cannot be punished if:
She takes an oath four times, invoking Allah’s name,
And asserts her innocence and purity.
This process does not count as legal testimony in the regular sense, but rather a solemn self-declaration made before Allah.
These oaths protect the woman from punishment, but they do not reverse the consequences for the accusing husband if he is lying — her oaths only secure her acquittal.
The woman must affirm that her husband’s accusation is false. She declares him a liar in this specific allegation of adultery.
This provision highlights:
The gravity of marital accusations,
The strictness of evidence in Islamic law,
And the balance between protecting both spouses’ rights while preserving justice.
The tafsir of Surah An-Nur verse 8 by Ibn Kathir is unavailable here.
Please refer to Surah Nur ayat 6 which provides the complete commentary from verse 6 through 10.
(24:8) And the punishment shall be averted from the woman if she were to testify, swearing by Allah four times that the man was lying,
There is no commentary by Abul Maududi available for this verse.
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