Punishment for rape in Islam
The following information was sent to me by brother Shahid
Bin Waheed; may Allah Almighty always be pleased with him.
Let us look at how Prophet Muhammad peace be upon him dealt with the rapists:
Narrated Wa'il ibn Hujr:
"When a woman went out in the time of the Prophet
(peace_be_upon_him) for prayer, a man attacked her and overpowered (raped) her. She
shouted and he went off, and when a man came by, she said: That (man) did such and such to
me. And when a company of the Emigrants came by, she said: That man did such and such to
me. They went and seized the man whom they thought had had intercourse with her and
brought him to her.
She said: Yes, this is he. Then they brought him to the Apostle
of Allah (peace_be_upon_him). When he (the Prophet) was about to pass sentence, the
man who (actually) had assaulted her stood up and said: Apostle of Allah, I am the man who
did it to her.
He (the Prophet) said to the woman: Go away, for Allah has
forgiven you. And about the man who had intercourse with her, he said: Stone
him to death.
He also said: He has repented to such an extent that if the
people of Medina had repented similarly, it would have been accepted from them. (Sunan Abu Dawud, Book 38, Number 4366)"
UsSalaamu Alaikum dear brother Osama
I pray that you receive this with great Imaan and in good health. I like to contribute
this for the website, it is an authentic ruling of Islamic Shariah about [The Punishment
of Rape in Islaam]. It also quash the notion of enemies of Islaam about the women witness
because it clearly proves the importance of a SINGLE woman witness [which decide the fate
of man's life] which man don't have in any religion.
A RAPE IN ISLAAM
The following quote, from the book "Role of Muslim Women in Society" by Afzalur
Rahman (Seerah Foundation, London, 1986),specifically addresses the issue of _rape_ (as
opposed to adultery):
During the time of the Prophet, _Hudud_ punishment was inflicted on the person who
committed adultery on the evidence of the woman who was raped by him. It is reported by
Wa'il ibn Hujr that a woman went out in the time of the Prophet to go to prayer, and a man
who met her attacked her and got his desire of her. She shouted and he went off, and when
a company of the _Muhajirun_ came by, she said: "That man did such-and-such to
me." They seized him and brought him to Allah's messenger, who said to the woman,
"Go away, for Allah has forgiven you," but of the man who had had intercourse
with her, he said, "Stone him to death." (Tirmidhi and Abu Dawud)
This tradition leaves absolutely no doubt of the validity of the evidence of women in
_hudud_ cases. It establishes, first, that in a case of rape, the solitary evidence
of the raped woman, in the absence of their evidence, is considered sufficient to convict
the rapist of the crime; and second, that the evidence of women is admissable in _hudud_
cases, and that there are no plausible grounds not to admit their evidence in the Islamic
Shari`ah.
In the light of the above hadith, in answer to the original question, it shows that the
evidence of a *single* person, the female victim, can be sufficient to convict someone of
rape according to the teachings of the Messenger of Allah (s.a.w.)....
The whole confusion over the rape issue to me seems to be that when people ask about
rape, all the answers that are given relate to _adultery_. _Rape_ and _adultery_ are very
different things, since in adultery usually both people are consensual, whereas in
the case of rape the woman is an unwilling victim. To blindly apply the Islamic
rules for adultery for the case of rape to me seems to be completely absurd and totally
unjust, particularly when the above hadith demonstrates that the situation for rape is
different than that for adultery.
To prove a case of adultery, usually you require four eye-witnesses who saw the act of
coitus, except in the special case of when one spouse is accusing another, when if the
accused swears innocence the innocence is accepted, as taught in the Qur'an. For the case
of _rape_, however, the above hadith demonstrates quite graphically that _four witnesses
are not required_, and therefore the case of rape is _different_ from adultery.
Of course, a bit of sensible thinking also clearly shows why blindly applying the laws
for adultery to the case of rape is unjust.... Unfortunately, though, many Muslims seem to
see no problem with applying the laws of adultery to rape!
I wonder about to what extent such people have really thought about the issue....