Chapter on the Legal Punishment for Slanderous Accusation

Ibn Mahbub narrated from Hammad ibn Ziyad from Sulayman ibn Khalid from Abu Abdullah عليه السلام regarding a man who said to his wife after consummating the marriage, "I did not find you a virgin" Imam عليه السلام said: "There is no legal punishment upon him."

In another narration, Imam عليه السلام said: "Indeed, the hymen may be lost without intercourse; it can be lost due to injury, stumbling, or falling."

In the narration of Wahb ibn Wahb from Imam Jafar ibn Muhammad Al-Sadiq عليه السلام from his father, Imam Muhammad ibn Ali Al-Baqir عليه السلام: "Indeed, Imam Ali ibn Abi Talib عليه السلام would not administer the legal punishment for insinuation unless it was a clear and explicit accusation, such as saying, 'O' adulterer,' or 'O' son of an adulteress,' or 'You are not your father's son.'"

Al-Hasan ibn Mahbub narrated from Abbad ibn Suhayb who said: Abu Abdullah عليه السلام was asked about a Christian who accused a Muslim by saying to him, "O' adulterer." Imam عليه السلام said: "He is to be flogged eighty lashes for violating the right of the Muslim and eighty lashes minus one for violating the sanctity of Islam. His head is to be shaved, and he is to be paraded among the people of his religion so that others may be deterred."

It was narrated from Safwan from Abu Bakr Al-Hadrami from Abu Abdullah عليه السلام who said: I asked Imam عليه السلام about a man who slanders a man from the pre-Islamic Arabs. Imam عليه السلام said: "He is to be given the legal punishment." I asked: "Is he to be given the legal punishment?" He said: "Yes, because that offense reaches the Messenger of Allah سبحانه وتعالى (peace be upon him and his family)."

Ja'far ibn Bashir narrated from Al-Husayn ibn Abi Al-'Ala from Abu Makhlad Al-Sarraj from Abu Abdullah عليه السلام: Imam عليه السلام ruled concerning a man who called another "the son of a madman," and the other replied to him, "Rather, you are the son of a madman." Imam عليه السلام commanded the first man to flog his companion twenty lashes and said: "Know that you will also be given twenty lashes in return." After the first man flogged him, the flogged man was given the whip and he flogged the first man twenty lashes as a means of punishment to discipline both of them.

Muhammad ibn Abdullah ibn Hilal narrated from Uqbah ibn Khalid from Abu Abdullah عليه السلام who said: I asked Imam عليه السلام about a man who said to his wife, "O' adulteress." Imam عليه السلام said: "He is to be given the legal punishment and they are to be separated after he has been flogged, and she will no longer be his wife." Imam عليه السلام further said: "But if he said something that slipped out unintentionally without having any knowledge of it, intending only to anger her, then they are not to be separated."

Commander of the Faithful عليه السلام said: "If there is doubt expressed with 'perhaps' or 'it may be' in enforcing a legal punishment, then the punishment is to be suspended."

Imam Jafar ibn Muhammad Al-Sadiq عليه السلام said: "The one who accuses a foundling (laqiṭ) of fornication is subjected to the prescribed punishment (hadd). And if a woman accuses her husband of fornication while he is deaf, they are separated, and she is never permissible for him again."

Ibn Mahbub narrated from Hisham ibn Salim from Abu Basir who said: Abu Abdullah عليه السلام was asked about a man who accused his wife of adultery while she was mute and deaf, unable to hear what he said. Imam عليه السلام said: "If she has witnesses who testify on her behalf before the Imam, he (the husband) is to be flogged with the legal punishment and they are to be separated, and she will never be permissible for him again. But if she has no witnesses, then she is forbidden to him as long as she remains with him, and there is no sin upon her from him."

In the narration of Al-Sakuni, Imam Ali ibn Abi Talib عليه السلام said: "Whoever acknowledges a child and then denies him is to be given the legal punishment and held responsible for the child."

In the narration of Yunus ibn Abd Al-Rahman from some of his narrators from Abu Abdullah عليه السلام, he said: "Every adult, whether male or female, who falsely accuses a minor or an adult, a male or a female, a Muslim, a free person, or a slave, is subject to the prescribed punishment (hadd Al-firya). And for one who is not yet an adult, the punishment is disciplinary (hadd Al-adab)."

Imam Ali ibn Abi Talib عليه السلام said: "There is no legal punishment upon a mad person until they regain sanity, nor upon a child until they reach maturity, nor upon a sleeping person until they wake up."

Al-Hasan ibn Mahbub narrated from Al-Ala and Abu Ayyub from Muhammad ibn Muslim from Abu Jafar Imam Muhammad ibn Ali Al-Baqir عليه السلام regarding a man who said to his wife, "O' adulteress, I have committed adultery with you," Imam عليه السلام said: "He is liable for one legal punishment for accusing her. As for his statement, 'I have committed adultery with you,' there is no legal punishment for that unless he testifies against himself four times for committing adultery before the Imam."

Al-Hasan ibn Mahbub narrated from Nu'aym ibn Ibrahim from Misma Abu Sayyar from Abu Abdullah عليه السلام regarding four people who testified against a woman for adultery, and one of them was her husband. Imam عليه السلام said: "The three (other witnesses) are to be flogged, and her husband is to perform lian (mutual cursing) with her. They are to be separated, and she will never be permissible for him again."

It has been narrated: "Indeed, the husband is considered one of the witnesses."

Al-Hasan ibn Mahbub narrated from Abd Al-Rahman from Ubayd ibn Zurarah who said: I heard Abu Abdullah عليه السلام say, "If a man were brought to me who had accused a Muslim slave of adultery, and we knew nothing about the slave except goodness, I would administer the legal punishment upon him - the same punishment as for a free person, except one lash less."

Al-Hasan ibn Mahbub narrated from Hammad ibn Ziyad from Sulayman ibn Khalid from Abu Abdullah عليه السلام who said: "Imam Ali ibn Abi Talib عليه السلام was asked about a mukatab (a slave who has a contract for freedom) who falsely accused a Muslim man. Imam عليه السلام said: 'He is to be flogged with the punishment of a free man - eighty lashes - whether he has paid any part of his contract or not.' It was asked: 'What if he commits adultery while he is a mukatab and has not paid anything from his contract?' Imam عليه السلام said: 'This is the right of Allah سبحانه وتعالى, the Mighty and Majestic. Fifty lashes are waived from him, and he is to be flogged fifty lashes.'"

Ibn Mahbub narrated from Malik ibn Atiyyah from Abu Basir from Abu Abdullah عليه السلام regarding a woman who accused a man (of adultery). Imam عليه السلام said: "She is to be flogged eighty lashes."

Muhammad ibn Sinan narrated from Al-Ala ibn Al-Fudayl from Abu Abdullah عليه السلام: I asked Imam عليه السلام about a man who denies his child after having acknowledged him. Imam عليه السلام said: "If the child is from a free woman, the father is to be flogged fifty lashes, which is the punishment for a slave. But if the child is from a slave woman, there is no punishment upon him." And if a man says to another man: "You commit the act of the people of Lut (engaging in relations with men)," he is to be flogged eighty lashes. Similarly, if he says to him: "O' effeminate one" or "O' one who is penetrated," he is to be flogged with the legal punishment for slander - eighty lashes. If a man slanders a group of people with a single statement without naming them individually, he is subjected to one legal punishment. However, if he names them specifically, then a separate legal punishment applies to each person he named. This was narrated by Burayd Al-Ijli from Abu Jafar Imam Muhammad ibn Ali Al-Baqir عليه السلام. It has also been narrated: "If they (the slandered individuals) come forward separately, each one of them receives a separate punishment. But if they come forward collectively, only one punishment is administered. If a man slanders another and is flogged, but then repeats the slander, and if he says, 'What I said to you is true,' he is not flogged again. However, if he accuses him of adultery again after being flogged, the legal punishment applies. Yet, if he accuses him ten times before being flogged, only one punishment will be administered."

Abu Abdullah Imam Jafar ibn Muhammad Al-Sadiq عليه السلام said: "There is no legal punishment for one upon whom legal punishment does not apply."

Hisham ibn Salim narrated from Ammar Al-Sabati from Abu Abdullah عليه السلام regarding a man who said to another man, "O' son of an adulteress," intending adultery. Imam عليه السلام said: "If his mother is alive and present, and she comes forward to claim her right, the accuser is to be flogged eighty lashes. If she is absent, it is to be delayed until she returns and claims her right. And if she has passed away and nothing is known of her except goodness, the one who falsely accused her is to be given the legal punishment - eighty lashes."

Abu Ayyub narrated from Hariz from Abu Abdullah عليه السلام who said: I asked Imam عليه السلام about a man falsely accusing the son of a woman whose rights were violated (Al-maghsubah) by saying to him, "O' son of an adulteress." Imam عليه السلام said: "I believe he deserves the legal punishment of eighty lashes and must repent to Allah سبحانه وتعالى, the Mighty and Majestic, for what he has said."

It was narrated from Abu Walad Al-Hannat that he said: Abu Abdullah عليه السلام said: "Commander of the Faithful عليه السلام was presented with two men, each of whom had accused the other of something concerning his body. Imam Ali ibn Abi Talib عليه السلام waived the legal punishment for both of them and administered disciplinary punishment (ta'zir) to them."