AZ Zina

Zina ( ﺯِﻧَﺎﺀ ) or zin’a ( ﺯِﻧًﻰ or ﺯِﻧًﺎ ) is an Islamic legal term referring to unlawful sexual activities or relations between Muslims men and women who are not married to one another through a Nikah (Islamic marriage).

Zina includes : 

• extramarital affair (adultery) 

When one or more of the partners having consensual sexual intercourse is married to another person, it is called adultery. Example includes house wife having intimate relationship with another person other than her husband. Vice versa. 

• premarital sex (fornication) 

Fornication is generally consensual sexual intercourse between two people not married to each other.  

This is common among the youth, they rebrand the name and call it dating.

• homosexuality:

Consensual sexual relations between same-sex partners. The term gay is frequently used for male homosexuality; female homosexuality is often referred to as lesbianism.

It is also important to note that Zina can also be committed with the eyes, hand, tongue and mind. 

Abu Huraira reported: The Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, said, 

“ Verily, Allah has written for the son of Adam his portion of adultery which he will inevitably commit: the adultery of the eyes is a lustful look, the adultery of the tongue is lustful speech. The soul craves and yearns; the the private parts confirms that or deny it.”

Source: Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī 6612, Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim 2657

 It is not permissible or allowed for the Muslim to long for the things that lead to zina, such as kissing, being alone, touching and looking, for all these things are haraam in Islam and lead to the greater evil which is zina in Islam.

 

Allah commands us to avoid Zina (Unlawful Sex) and Everything that leads to it 

“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]

Verily, it is a Fahishah (immoral sin):

meaning a major sin, and an evil (terrible) way to behave.

 

Allah also warns us in Qur'an Chapter 24:30-31

“TELL THE BELIEVING MEN TO LOWER THEIR GAZE (FROM LOOKING AT FORBIDDEN THINGS), AND PROTECT THEIR PRIVATE PARTS (FROM ILLEGAL SEXUAL ACTS). THAT IS PURER FOR THEM. VERILY, ALLAH IS ALL‑AWARE OF WHAT THEY DO.” [AL-NOOR 24:30]

Allah does not end it with believing men but also warn the believing women. 

AND TELL THE BELIEVING WOMEN TO LOWER THEIR GAZE (FROM LOOKING AT FORBIDDEN THINGS), AND PROTECT THEIR PRIVATE PARTS (FROM ILLEGAL SEXUAL ACTS).” 

[AL-NOOR 24:31]

The Command to lower the Gaze

This is a command from Allah to His believing servants, to lower their gaze from looking at things that have been prohibited for them. They should look only at what is permissible for them to look at, and lower their gaze from forbidden things. If it so happens that a person's gaze unintentionally falls upon something forbidden, he should quickly look away.

Imam Ahmad recorded Abu Umamah saying that a young man came to the Prophet and said,

"O Messenger of Allah! Give me permission to commit Zina (unlawful sex)."

The people surrounded him and rebuked him, saying, "Stop! Stop!"

But the Prophet said,

 (Come close).

The young man came to him, and he said,

 (Sit down), so he sat down.

The Prophet said,

 (Would you like it (unlawful sex) for your mother)!

He said, "No, by Allah, may I be ransomed for you."

The Prophet said,

Neither do the people like it for their mothers.

The Prophet said,

 (Would you like it for your daughter)?

He said, "No, by Allah, may I be ransomed for you."

The Prophet said,

Neither do the people like it for their daughters.

The Prophet said,

 (Would you like it for your sister)?

He said, "No, by Allah, may I be ransomed for you."

The Prophet said,

Neither do the people like it for their sisters.

The Prophet said,

 (Would you like it for your paternal aunt)?

He said, "No, by Allah, O Allah's Messenger! may I be ransomed for you."

The Prophet said,

Neither do the people like it for their paternal aunts.

The Prophet said,

 (Would you like it for your maternal aunt)?

He said, "No, by Allah, O Allah's Messenger! may I be ransomed for you."

The Prophet said,

Neither do the people like it for their maternal aunts.

Then the Prophet put his hand on him and said,

O Allah, forgive his sin, purify his heart and guard his chastity.

After that the young man never paid attention to anything of that nature. 

In Surat-ul-Furqan , Allah has talked about numerous qualities which He considers necessary for His true believers. In the same

Surah , Allah mentions that Zina , shirk, and homicide are the most grievous sins that a person should stay away from. Allah says that the committers of these sins earn for themselves multiple sever punishments on the Day of Judgment.

“And those the servants of the Most Merciful, who never invoke any deity with Allah, nor kill the soul that Allah sanctified- except by right, nor commit Zina. And whoever should commit any of that will meet a full penalty. Multiplied for him is the punishment on the Day of Resurrection and he will abide therein humiliated.” [Al-Furqan 25:68-69]

Hence, it is an obligation of every Muslim to abide by what has been stated right and what has stated wrong to live a fulfilling life.

In a Hadith reported by Imams al-Bukhari and Muslim, from the narration of Anas ibn Malik (RA), the Prophet (Pbuh) said:

“From among the signs of the Hour (end of time) are that religious knowledge will be taken away (by the death of sincere religious scholars), ignorance will prevail, drinking of alcoholic drinks, and there will be prevalence of zina.”

This Hadith above is one of the sayings of the Prophet (Pbuh) through which he divinely predicted some happenings that will happen in the future. The occurrence of the incidents he mentioned confirms and affirms his prophethood. Unarguably, fornication has emerged as a normal lifestyle in the world of today. The more it spreads, the more its dangers widen. The Muslim, who hopes to meet his Lord and attain His forgiveness and mercy, and to be welcomed with open doors to the Paradise, ought to know its dangers and seek protection against them, as long as he lives.

A person cannot be accused of Zina, Except one of the following conditions are met. 

The Qazi (religious judge) in a sharia court relies on: 

• an unmarried woman’s pregnancy

• the confession in the Name of Allah or 

• four witnesses to the actual act of penetration.

Lastly 

The men or women who has committed any of these sins/actions has to ask forgiveness from Allah, for whoever ask forgiveness from Allah, He will accept his repentance, and the one who repents is like one who did not sin.

 We will be talking more about Zina and how it affects marital relations in our upcoming blog posts. 

 Stay connected.

Consequences of Zina