This Ayah states the prescribed punishment for making false accusations
against chaste women, i.e., those who are free, adult and chaste. If the person
who is falsely accused is a man, the same punishment of flogging also applies.
If the accuser produces evidence that what he is saying is true, then the
punishment does not apply. Allah said:
[ثُمَّ لَمْ
يَأْتُواْ بِأَرْبَعَةِ شُهَدَآءَ فَاجْلِدُوهُمْ ثَمَانِينَ جَلْدَةً وَلاَ
تَقْبَلُواْ لَهُمْ شَهَادَةً أَبَداً وَأُوْلَـئِكَ هُمُ الْفَـسِقُونَ]
(and produce not four witnesses, flog them with eighty stripes, and reject
their testimony forever. They indeed are the rebellious.) If the accuser cannot
prove that what he is saying is true, then three rulings apply to him: (firstly)
that he should be flogged with eighty stripes, (secondly) that his testimony
should be rejected forever, and (thirdly) that he should be labelled as a
rebellious who is not of good character, whether in the sight of Allah or of
mankind.
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