What does Islam say about Zina?

By Hussen Al el sheikh

All praise is due to Allah. I testify that there is no deity worthy of worship except Allah and that Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah. May peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, his household and companions.

Fellow Muslims! The religion of Islam was revealed complete in order to perfect Allah’s blessings on mankind, and guarantee the highest form of grace and kindness. It orders that conditions be improved, and that people be generous. It warns against useless and time-wasting speech and actions. It brought all that can beautify the slave of Allah, and decorate him, and all that can distance him from anything that may defile him and disgrace him.

The Prophet said, “Allah is generous and gracious, and he loves the generous, gracious people, and He loves the ones who strive to better the state of affairs and He hates useless and time-wasting speech and actions." (At-Tabarani).

One of Islam’s greatest goals is to establish the abstention from what is forbidden, create virtuousness, purity and to implant good-doing and charity in the community, and the distancing from vice and indecency. And from here Islam has been careful to distance people from their animalistic desires and Satanic manners.

Allah says, “And let those who find not the financial means for marriage keep themselves chaste until Allah enriches them of His Bounty." (An-Noor: 33).

He also says, “But to refrain (i.e. not to discard their outer clothing) is better for them. And Allah is All-Hearing, All-Knowing." (An-Noor: 60).

Ibn Abbaas narrated in his account of Abu Sufyan and Qaesar, “Abu Sufyan said, ‘And he orders us to worship Allah without associating any partners with Him and forbids us from worshipping that which our forefathers worshipped, and he orders us to perform prayers, give charity, be chaste, keep our promises, and to return trusts to their rightful owners." (Bukhari & Muslim).

At-Tirmidhi relates that the prophet said, “The first three to enter paradise were shown to me: A martyr, a chaste person, and a slave who perfected his worship of Allah and remained faithful to his master."

The chastity of Islam is what restrains the human behaviour from deteriorating into the following of despicable desires. It looks after one’s interests, curbs one’s desires and prevents one from slipping into error and lack of discipline. This chastity finds expression in human decency and there appears in it purity, and human virtue.

This chastity is related to the achievement of manhood and authority. At the time one’s spirit is strengthened by performing good deeds, good personal manners, good habits, leaving behind the filth and immorality, tolerating its observance in keeping up good habits, and leaving the degrading and despicable.

Islam concentrates on the foundation of chastity to protect honour and majesty. At that time the human will remain strong-willed, and courageous. So don’t yield to your desire, and don’t obey it.

Brothers in Islam! If we talk about these above-mentioned descriptions in Islam, they are self-evident for the intelligent open-minded person. They glorify the good things of this religion and have raised its learning to a dignified position. One may look in different countries of the world that we know today. Chastity has been lost, and it is darkened by shamelessness and immorality, and no one shows any respect, people have rough manners, and disgraceful practices, knowing no honour or chivalry, and bearing no characteristic of courtliness or kindness. Freedom to follow desires, legalisation of transient things of the world, and a loss of humility and decency, no feeling jealousy for one’s close female relatives, no disgust from immoral or unlawful deeds. What do you think brought about this dissoluteness? What caused these manners, which left chastity behind and destroyed purity and humility? It was brought about by immorality whose damaging effects know no limit and result in various pains, hurts and sorrows, and destructive conditions.

O slaves of Allah! The Shari’ah was revealed in order to bring about chastity, purity and the spreading of humility and virtue on the individual level as well as on the level of society. It’s definitive orders came specifically to the Faithful Muslims, and to the Muslims generally to guard their chastity.

Guarding chastity from immorality is one thing that can purify the soul, bring peace to nations, and maintain security.
Allah says, “Tell the believing men to lower their gaze, and protect their private parts. That is purer for them. Verily, Allah is All-Aware of what they do. And tell the believing women to lower their gaze, and protect their private parts." (An-Noor: 30).

Allah praised those who guard their chastity, and made that a sign of supreme success. Allah says, “Successful indeed are the believers. Those who offer their prayers in al solemnity and full submissiveness. And those who turn away from Al-Laghw (dirty, false, evil vain talk, falsehood, and all that Allah has forbidden). And those who pay the Zakaat. And those who guard their chastity (i.e. private parts, from illegal sexual acts.)" (Al-Mu’minoon: 1).

The Prophet said, “Whoever guarantees for me (that) what is between his legs and what is between his two beards (i.e. between the left and right sides of his beards: meaning his mouth)[i.e. will perform no act of indiscretion]. I guarantee for him paradise." (Bukhaarie).

He also said, “If a woman prays five times daily, and fasts her month (of Ramadaan), and guards her chastity, and obeys her husband, it will be said to her, ‘Enter Paradise by any door you like.’"

Fellow Muslims! The greatest thing that destroys this guard of chastity is fornication, so it is one of the biggest sins and greatest transgressions.

Ibn Al-Qayyim said, “In His book, Allah specifically labelled the association of partners with Him, fornication and homosexuality, with impurity and filth… and no sin is worse for the heart and religion than those two great sins – fornication and homosexuality – and for them is a characteristic in distancing the heart from Allah. If the heart acknowledged them, it is distanced from Allah."

And Allah warned against fornication and described its awful description and it’s result of utter destruction, He says, “And those who invoke not any other god along with Allah, nor kill such person as Allah has forbidden, except for just cause, nor commit illegal sexual intercourse – and whoever does this shall receive the punishment. The torment will be doubled to him on the Day of Resurrection, and he will abide there in disgrace. Except those who repent and believe (in Islamic Monotheism), and do righteous deeds…" (Al-Furqan: 68).

He also says, “And come not near to the unlawful sexual intercourse. Verily, it is a transgression of Allah’s limits, and an evil way." (Al-Israa’: 32).

Fellow Muslims! Fornication is incompatible with the characteristics of the faithful believer and repulsive to the pious and the God-fearing. Allah says, “The adulterer marries not but an adulteress or a Mushrikah (polytheist woman) and the adulteress none marries her except an adulterer or a Mushrik (polytheist man). Such a thing is forbidden to the believers."(An-Noor: 3).

The Prophet said, “When the fornicator is committing fornication, he is not a believer." (Bukhaarie and Muslim).

And he said, “If a slave of Allah commits fornication, his faith leaves him through his head and when he turns away from her, his faith returns again." (Abu Dawood).

O slaves of Allah! Fornication is usually associated with the performance of other acts of disobedience to Allah and it guarantees all forms of harm. By way of fornication, mortal diseases become prevalent in the community, and different kinds of afflictions and trials appear, and the good god-fearing family is non-existent, blessings become scarce, not to mention the estrangement and enmity between human beings, the spread of multifarious diseases.

O slaves of Allah! Listen, then, to the light of the Prophet Muhammad’s revelation; it speaks about these evil effects and warns against these dangers and evils. The Prophet said, “My nation will remain well as long as there is not a prevalence of children born out of wedlock, and if there is such a prevalence they will be on the point of receiving Allah’s punishment." (Ahmad).

And the Prophet said, “If there is a prevalence of fornication and usury in a nation, they have legitimised for themselves the punishment (of Allah)."

He also said, “(Allah’s) covenant is never broken in a nation but there spreads amongst them killing, and there never appears immorality in a nation until it is announced to me except there spreads among them plague and diseases that where not known in past generations…" (Ibn Majah, Al-Hakim, Ath-Thahabi).

Fellow Muslims! Remember that fornication is but a few moments pleasure, which people are driven to by their base whims and desires, and its perpetrator shall be punished. It is a short-lived pleasure, yet it’s long term effects are evil. Fornicators are swift to laughter, but remain disgraced and dishonoured, and Allah’s is angry with them.

The Prophet said during part of a longer narration, “… and so we set out and came to something like a kiln narrow at the top and wide at the bottom, there came from it sounds and voices. He said, ‘We looked inside, and there were naked men and women and there would rise up fire from beneath them and when it reached them, they screamed, and I said, ‘Who are these (people) O Jibreel?’, He said, ‘These are the fornicators.’" (Bukhaarie).

So fear Allah, O slaves of Allah, and stick to His orders, and stop at His limits, and you will prevail, you will win and be happy..

Brothers in Islam! If the way of error is not easy for a Muslim, and it is not easy in today’s world, and if the ways of immorality are not widespread and multifarious, then the faithful Muslim urgently needs to remember that The Creator can always see Him and pursues a revival of fear of Allah. And Muslims can be reminded by the Prophet’s words, “Allah will shade seven in His shade on the day when there will be no shade but His shade…(and one of them was)…a man who is approached by a beautiful woman, and he said, ‘I fear Allah.’"

So see, O you who have reached a respectable advanced age, it is the time of the youths and it is filled with sin and wrongdoing, remember the greatness of the affair and the result of a bad end to life and the life after death. The Prophet said, “On the day of Judgement, there are three groups of people whom Allah will not speak to, nor make them flourish, nor will He look at them, and for them is a painful torment: an old man who commits fornication, a king who is a liar, and a poor people who are arrogant" (Muslim)