Surah An-Noor (24) — Ayah 9

The tafsir of this verse may be read with the following verses.

9-1. That is, if in response to the husband, the wife swears four times that he is lying, and the fifth time she says that if her husband is truthful (and I am lying), then may Allah's wrath descend upon me. In this case, she will be saved from the punishment for adultery. After this, there will be a permanent separation between the two. It is called "li'an" because in it both declare themselves deserving of curse if they are lying. During the time of the Prophet ﷺ, some such incidents occurred, the details of which are present in the hadiths. These very incidents became the reason for the revelation of these verses.

9. And the fifth time she should say, "If he (her husband) is telling the truth, then may the wrath of Allah descend [10] upon me."

[10] For the explanation of verses 6 to 9, consider the following ahadith:
1.
Ahadith Regarding Li'an:

Ibn Abbas (may Allah be pleased with them both) says that Hilal bin Umayyah accused his wife (Khawlah bint Asim) before the Messenger of Allah ﷺ of adultery with Sharik bin Sahma. The Prophet ﷺ said to Hilal: “Bring (four) witnesses or else the punishment of qadhf will be imposed on your back.” Hilal (may Allah be pleased with him) replied: “O Messenger of Allah ﷺ! If any one of us sees his wife committing adultery with someone, will he go around looking for witnesses?” (This is very difficult.) But the Prophet ﷺ kept saying: “Bring witnesses or else the punishment will be imposed.” Hilal (may Allah be pleased with him) said: “By the Lord who sent you with the truth, I am truthful, and Allah will surely reveal a command regarding me that will save my back from punishment.” After this, Jibreel descended and the verses from ﴿وَالَّذِيْنَ يَرْمُوْنَ.....﴾ to ﴿مِنَ الصّٰدِقِيْنَ﴾ were revealed. Afterwards, the Prophet ﷺ called Hilal’s wife. (First) Hilal gave the testimonies of li'an, while the Prophet ﷺ kept saying: “Look, one of you is surely lying, and will the liar repent or not?” After Hilal, his wife stood up and gave four testimonies. When it was time for the fifth testimony, people stopped her (and explained) that this fifth testimony would subject her to punishment. Ibn Abbas (may Allah be pleased with him) says that upon hearing this, the woman hesitated and paused, and we thought she would confess, but she said: “I cannot disgrace my people for all my life,” and then she gave the fifth testimony as well. The Prophet ﷺ said: “Watch, if this woman’s child is born with black eyes, large buttocks, and thick shins, then it will be from Sharik bin Sahma.” Indeed, the woman gave birth to a child exactly as described. At that time, the Prophet ﷺ said: “If Allah’s command (li'an) had not been revealed, I would have given this woman the proper punishment.” [بخاري۔ كتاب التفسير]

Sahl bin Sa’d narrates that Uwaymir (bin Harith bin Zayd bin Judd bin ‘Ajlan) came to Asim bin ‘Adi, who was the chief of Uwaymir’s tribe Banu ‘Ajlan, and asked him: “If a man sees his wife with another man, what do you say about this? If he kills her, will you people also kill him (in retaliation)? Then what should he do?” Asim went to the Messenger of Allah ﷺ and asked about this issue, but the Prophet ﷺ disliked such questions (and remained silent). Then when Uwaymir asked Asim for the answer to his question, Asim said: “I would never ask such a question to the Messenger of Allah ﷺ.” Eventually, Uwaymir himself came to the Messenger of Allah ﷺ and said: “O Messenger of Allah! If a man sees his wife with another man, what should he do? If he kills her, you will kill him (in retaliation). Then what should he do?” The Prophet ﷺ said: “Allah has revealed (the ruling) in the Quran regarding you and your wife.” Then the Prophet ﷺ ordered both husband and wife to perform li'an as prescribed in the Quran. After performing li'an, Uwaymir said: “O Messenger of Allah! If I now keep this woman, I will be a wrongdoer.” So Uwaymir divorced his wife, and later this became the established practice among those who performed li'an. After li'an, the Prophet ﷺ said: “Watch, if the child born to this woman is dark, with black eyes, large buttocks, and thick shins, then I will consider Uwaymir truthful in his claim. And if the child is born red like a chameleon, then I will consider Uwaymir to have falsely accused his wife.” When the child was born, it matched the signs described by the Prophet ﷺ, so Uwaymir was found truthful. Thus, the child’s lineage was attributed to his mother. [بخاري۔ كتاب التفسير]

This li'an took place in the mosque and I was present there. [كتاب الصلوة۔ باب القضاء واللعان فى المسجد]

3. Abdullah bin Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) says that when li'an had taken place between Uwaymir and his wife, Uwaymir asked: “What will happen to the mahr (dowry) money I gave?” He was told: “You have no right to any wealth. If you are truthful in your statement, you still had relations with your wife, and if you are lying, then in no case are you entitled to it.” [بخاري۔ كتاب الطلاق۔ باب صداق الملاعنة]

Rulings Derived from Ahadith Regarding Li'an:

From these ahadith and some other ahadith, the following matters are known:
1. If a person accuses a woman other than his wife, the decision will be based on witnesses. But if he accuses his own wife, the decision will be in the form of li'an as mentioned in these verses.
2. During the taking of oaths, the judge should keep exhorting both parties to fear Allah and speak the truth. If a party withdraws from their claim, the punishment of qadhf will be imposed, and if the woman withdraws after the man has taken the oaths, it is clear that she has confessed to the crime of adultery [حديث نمبر 1]. In this case, she will be stoned to death, and in verse 8, the word “punishment” refers to this very penalty.
3. Li'an is the severest form of separation between spouses, after which the two can never remarry.
4. After li'an, whether the man divorces the woman or not, it makes no difference. Permanent separation occurs automatically.
5. After li'an, the man cannot demand the return of the mahr or other expenses from the woman. [حديث نمبر 3]
6. After li'an, during the waiting period (‘iddah), the woman’s maintenance or residence is not the responsibility of the man.
7. The child born will be attributed to the mother. He will not be attributed to the accused adulterer.
8. The child will inherit from the mother, and the mother from the child. And if after childbirth the woman is proven guilty, she will not be stoned to death.