The female adulterer and the male adulterer, meaning their punishment is to be flogged. It is permissible that the news is: 'So flog them,' and the letter 'fa' has entered because the definite article 'al' means 'the one who' and implies a condition. Mahmoud said: 'In the nominative, there are two opinions. One is: the subject is implied and the news is omitted, which is the grammatical analysis of Al-Khalil and Sibawayh. The estimation is: 'And in what has been prescribed for you, the female adulterer and the male adulterer,' meaning their punishment is to be flogged. The second is that the news is 'So flog them,' and the letter 'fa' has entered because the definite article 'al' means 'the one who' and has implied a condition.' Ahmad said: 'Sibawayh has shifted to this which he transmitted from him for two reasons: verbal and semantic. As for the verbal reason, it is because the speech is an order, and it suggests the choice of the accusative, and yet it is the reading of the majority. If the imperative verb were made news and the subject were built upon it, it would be contrary to the choice of eloquent speakers. Thus, he resorted to estimating the news so that the subject would not be built upon the command, and he avoided contradicting the choice. Sibawayh has likened this in his book to Allah's saying: 'The example of the Paradise which the righteous have been promised therein are rivers...' The point of comparison is that the speech begins with 'The example of the Paradise,' and it cannot be firmly established that the phrase 'in it are rivers' is its news, so it is necessary to estimate its news as omitted. Its origin is: 'In what has been prescribed for you, the example of Paradise,' then when this was a general mention of the example, it was detailed by saying 'in it are rivers' until the end of it. So here, it is as if he said: 'And in what has been prescribed for you is the matter of the female adulterer and the male adulterer,' then this general was detailed by what was mentioned of the flogging rulings. This corresponds to the translation of the jurists in their books where they say, for example: 'Prayer, Zakat, Theft.' Then they mention in each chapter its rulings, intending what they classify and categorize: 'Prayer,' and likewise for others. This is an explanation of the reason according to Sibawayh for choosing to omit the news from the perspective of verbal construction. As for the semantic perspective, it is that the meaning is more complete and perfect by omitting the news, as it has been mentioned that the ruling of the female adulterer and the male adulterer is general when he said: 'The female adulterer and the male adulterer,' and he meant: 'And in what has been prescribed for you is the ruling of the female adulterer and the male adulterer.' When the listener anticipates the detail of this general, he mentioned their ruling in detail, which is more impactful in the soul than mentioning it at once. And Allah knows best.' Its estimation is: 'The one who committed adultery,' and 'the one who committed adultery, so flog them,' as you say: 'Whoever commits adultery, so flog him,' and like His saying: 'And those who accuse chaste women and do not bring four witnesses, flog them.' It has been read in the accusative by implying a verb that clarifies the apparent, and it is better than the surah that We revealed for the sake of the command. And it has been read: 'And the adulterer,' without the 'ya.' And the flogging is the striking of the skin; it is said: 'He flogged him,' like saying: 'His back, his belly, and his head.' If you say: 'Is this the ruling for all adulterers and adulteresses, or the ruling for some of them?' I say: 'Rather, it is the ruling for those who are not married among them, for the married person's ruling is stoning.' And the conditions of marriage according to Abu Hanifah are six: Islam, freedom, sanity, maturity, marriage with a valid contract, and consummation.

If one of them is lost, then there is no punishment. And according to al-Shafi'i, Islam is not a condition, as it has been narrated that the Prophet, blessings and peace be upon him, stoned two Jews who committed adultery. [Agreed upon from the hadith of Ibn Umar, may Allah be pleased with him.] And the evidence of Abu Hanifa is his saying, blessings and peace be upon him, "Whoever associates partners with Allah is not punished." [Reported by Ishaq and al-Daraqutni, who uniquely raised it. I say: Ishaq said in his Musnad that his teacher narrated it to him once again as a statement.] If you say: The wording implies that the ruling is linked to all adulterers, because his saying 'the female adulterer and the male adulterer' is general for all, encompassing the punished and the unpunished. I say: The female adulterer and the male adulterer indicate the two opposing genders of the chaste male and female, indicating absolutely, and the gender is present in all and some alike. So whichever one the speaker intends, it does not matter, just as is done with a common name. And it was read: 'And let not you be taken,' with the pronoun. And 'rahfah,' with a fatḥah on the first letter. And 'ra'fa' as a noun. The meaning is that it is obligatory for the believers to be firm in the religion of Allah and to employ seriousness and strength in it, and not to be lenient and soft in fulfilling its limits. And the Messenger of Allah, blessings and peace be upon him, is enough as an example in this matter, as he said, "If Fatimah, the daughter of Muhammad, were to steal, I would cut off her hand." [Agreed upon from the hadith of Aisha, may Allah be pleased with her.] And his saying, 'If you truly believe in Allah and the Last Day,' is of the nature of incitement and igniting anger for Allah and His religion. And it was said: Do not show mercy to them so that you do not nullify the limits or so that you do not strike them painfully. And in the hadith, "A man who falls short of the limit is brought with a whip, and he says: Mercy for Your servants, and it is said to him: Are you more merciful to them than I am? And he is commanded to go to the Fire. And a man who exceeds the limit is brought, and it is said: Let them stop disobeying You, and he is commanded to go to the Fire." [I did not find it in this wording, and in Abu Ya'la from the narration of Amr ibn Dhurar from Hudhayfah, it is raised: "A man who struck above the limit is brought, and Allah, the Exalted, says to him: My servant, why did you strike above the limit? He says: Out of anger for You. He says: Was your anger stronger than My anger? And a man who fell short is brought, and Allah says: My servant, why did you fall short? He says: Out of mercy for him. He says: Was your mercy greater than My mercy? Then both are commanded to the Fire."] And from Abu Huraira: Establishing the limit in the land is better for its people than rain for forty nights. [Reported by al-Nasa'i through Abu Zar'ah from him as a statement, and al-Nasa'i also reported it, as well as Ibn Hibban, Ahmad, Ibn Majah, and al-Tabarani from this route as a raised narration. And it was said: "Forty mornings," and for Ahmad: "Thirty or forty mornings." And there is also a narration from Ibn Umar, reported by Ibn Majah with the wording: "Establishing a limit from the limits of Allah is better than rain for forty nights."] And the imam must appoint a knowledgeable and perceptive man who understands how to strike. And the man is to be whipped standing, on his bare body, [The phrase 'on his bare body' in the dictionaries means: so-and-so is well-exposed, i.e., uncovered. (A)] with only a waist wrap on him, with a moderate strike that is neither harsh nor light, distributed over all the limbs, except for three: the face, the head, and the private parts. And in the wording of the whip: there is an indication that the pain should not exceed to the flesh. And the woman is to be whipped sitting, and nothing is removed from her clothing except for the stuffing and fur. And by this verse, Abu Hanifa used as evidence that whipping is a limit for the unpunished without exile. And what al-Shafi'i used as evidence for the obligation of exile from his saying, blessings and peace be upon him, "The unmarried man with the unmarried woman is to be whipped one hundred times and exiled for a year." [Reported by Muslim and the Companions of the Sunnah from the hadith of Ubadah ibn al-Samit during the hadith.] And what is narrated from the Companions: that they whipped and exiled. [Reported by al-Tirmidhi and al-Hakim from the hadith of Ibn Umar, may Allah be pleased with him, that the Prophet, blessings and peace be upon him, struck and exiled, and that Abu Bakr struck and exiled, and that Umar struck and exiled.]

It is abrogated according to him and his companions by the verse. Or it is carried upon the aspect of deterrence and discipline without obligation. And Al-Shafi'i's saying regarding the exile of the free man is one, while he has three sayings regarding the slave: he is exiled for a year like the free man, he is exiled for half a year as he is lashed with fifty lashes, and he is not exiled as Abu Hanifa said. And by this verse, the confinement of harm is abrogated in His saying: 'So keep them in the houses,' and His saying: 'And harm them.' It was said: His naming it punishment is evidence that it is a penalty. It may be called punishment because it prevents recurrence, just as it was called a deterrent.

A group: the faction that can form a circle, and the least of it is three or four. It is a dominant description as if it is the congregation surrounding something. And from Ibn Abbas in its interpretation: four to forty men who believe in Allah. And from Al-Hasan: ten. And from Qatadah: three or more. And from Ikrimah: two or more. And from Mujahid: one or more. The saying of Ibn Abbas is preferred because four is the congregation by which this limit is established, and it is correct that this major sin is among the gravest of sins. For this reason, Allah associated it with polytheism and killing the soul in His saying: 'And do not commit adultery. And whoever does that will face punishment,' and He said: 'And do not approach adultery. Indeed, it is a great sin and an evil way.' And from the Prophet, blessings and peace be upon him: 'O people, fear adultery, for it has six characteristics: three in this world and three in the Hereafter. As for those in this world: it takes away beauty, brings poverty, and shortens life. And as for those in the Hereafter: it brings about anger, bad reckoning, and eternal punishment in the Fire.' [[Narrated by Al-Bayhaqi in Al-Shu'ab in the thirty-seventh, and by Ibn Mardawayh, Ibn Abi Hatim, and Abu Nu'aim in Al-Hilya in the biography of Abu Wa'il from Hudhayfah, with the wording: 'O people,' and at the end: then he recited: 'And Allah was angry with them, and in the punishment, they will remain forever.' Abu Nu'aim said: It was uniquely narrated by Muslim bin Ali Al-Hasani from Abu Abdul Rahman Al-Kufi from Al-A'mash, and he is weak. Al-Bayhaqi said: Muslim is abandoned. And Abdul Rahman is unknown, and Al-Thalabi narrated it from the narration of Mu'awiyah bin Yahya from Al-A'mash, and it is possible that he is the mentioned Abu Abdul Rahman. And there is a narration from Anas narrated by Al-Khatib and Ibn Al-Jawzi through him, and in its chain is Kab bin Amr bin Ja'far, who is not trustworthy. And Al-Wahidi narrated it in Al-Wasit's account mostly from the path of Abu Al-Dunya Al-Ashajj from Ali, raised, and Al-Ashajj claimed that he heard from Ali after three hundred, so Abu Bakr Al-Mufid and others heard from him, and his reports are known.]] Therefore, in Allah, there is a complete hundred, unlike the limit of slander and drinking alcohol. And it was legislated therein the dreadful killing, which is stoning, and He forbade the believers from pitying the one who is lashed therein, and He commanded the testimony of the group for the purpose of publicizing, so it is necessary that there be a group that achieves publicizing, and one or two are not at that level. And its specificity to the believers is because that is more disgraceful, and the immoral among the righteous of his people is more humiliating. This is supported by the saying of Ibn Abbas, may Allah be pleased with him: 'Up to forty men from those who believe in Allah.'