Hadd punishment for slander

What is the hadd punishment for slander?.

Praise be to Allaah.

What is meant by slander with regard to the hadd punishment is an accusation of zina (adultery or fornication) or homosexuality. The one who accuses a person of zina or vilifies him in such terms has slandered him and accused him of something abhorrent.

Slander is haraam, and is indeed a major sin, if the person slandered is chaste and innocent of zina.

Allaah says (interpretation of the meaning):

“Verily, those who accuse chaste women, who never even think of anything touching their chastity and are good believers — are cursed in this life and in the Hereafter, and for them will be a great torment”

[al-Noor 24:23].

Al-Sa’di (may Allaah have mercy on him) said:

Allaah has issued a stern warning against making accusations against chaste women, as He says: “Verily, those who accuse chaste women”, i.e., those who refrain from immoral actions, “who never even think of anything touching their chastity”, and such things would never cross their minds, “and are good believers — are cursed in this life and in the Hereafter”, and a curse applies only in the case of major sins.

The curse is confirmed because it is ongoing in this world and in the Hereafter. “and for them will be a great torment”. This is in addition to the curse, and shows that they are even further removed from divine mercy, and that His severe punishment will be upon them. End quote.

And the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said: “Avoid the seven sins that doom a person to Hell.” It was said: What are they, O Messenger of Allaah? He said: “Associating others with Allaah (shirk); witchcraft; killing a soul whom Allaah has forbidden us to kill, except in cases dictated by Islamic law; consuming orphans’ wealth; consuming riba; fleeing from the battlefield; and slandering chaste, innocent women.” Narrated by al-Bukhaari (2767) and Muslim (89).

Al-Haafiz Ibn Hajar said: What is meant by the sins that doom a person to Hell are major sins. End quote.

It says in Fataawa al-Lajnah al-Daa’imah (22/76): It is not permissible for a Muslim to slander his brother, and it is a major sin; he must repent from that and seek forgiveness from the one whom he slandered; if the latter does not pardon him, he has the right to demand his rights according to sharee’ah.

And Allaah is the Source of strength. May Allaah send blessings and peace upon our Prophet Muhammad and his family and companions. End quote.

Shaykh ‘Abd al-‘Azeez ibn ‘Abd-Allaah ibn Baaz, Shaykh ‘Abd al-Razzaaq ‘Afeefi, Shaykh ‘Abd-Allaah ibn Ghadyaan

The scholars are unanimously agreed that it is obligatory to carry out the hadd punishment on one who slanders a chaste person, and the punishment is eighty lashes, because Allaah says (interpretation of the meaning):

“And those who accuse chaste women, and produce not four witnesses, flog them with eighty stripes, and reject their testimony forever. They indeed are the Faasiqoon (liars, rebellious, disobedient to Allaah)”

[al-Noor 24:4]. 

Words of slander

If one man reviles another and says “O evildoer”, is that regarded as slander and does the hadd punishment for slander have to be carried out?.

Praise be to Allaah.

Firstly:

The slander for which the hadd punishment must be carried out on the slanderer is accusation of zina (fornication or adultery) or homosexuality. In that case the slanderer must be given eighty lashes, if he does not produce four witnesses to testify to the truth of what he is saying, because Allaah says (interpretation of the meaning):

“And those who accuse chaste women, and produce not four witnesses, flog them with eighty stripes”

[al-Noor 24:4].

Secondly:

Words which may be used in slanderous ways are of two types: explicit or implicit.

Explicit words are those which cannot be understood in any other way than as an accusation of zina or homosexuality, and the slanderer’s claims that he meant something other than slander cannot be accepted.

Examples include saying “O adulterer”, “You committed zina” or “O homosexual”.

It cannot be accepted if he says, “When I said ‘ya looti (O homosexual),’ I meant that he was a follower of the religion of Loot (peace be upon him), or that he did any of the actions of his people except that immoral action,” because this phrase, ‘ya looti’, cannot be understand in any way except as a accusation of immorality.

As for implicit phrases, these are words that may be taken as slander or they may be understood otherwise.

In this case the slanderer is to asked what he meant, and he has to tell the truth, because carrying out the hadd punishment on him in this world is easier to bear than punishment in the Hereafter. If he says: “I intended to slander him”, then he has slandered him, and if he says, “I meant something other than slander”, then there is no hadd punishment, but he should be given a disciplinary punishment for reviling people.

Examples of that include saying “O evildoer” and the like.

See al-Mughni (12/392), al-Majmoo’ (22/113), Haashiyat al-Dasooqi (6/324).

It should be noted that reference is to be made to what words customarily mean, which varies from one country or time to another. The word may be regarded as implicit among some people and as explicit by others. So attention must be paid to that.

Haashiyat al-Dasooqi (6/328); al-Sharh al-Mumti’ (14/289).

Based on that, if he reviled someone and said “O evildoer”, then he should be asked what he meant by this phrase. If he says “I meant to accuse him of zina,” then this is slander. If he says, “I did not mean to accuse him of zina” then no hadd punishment is due, but he should be given a disciplinary punishment, and the judge may punish him as he sees fit, as stated above.

And Allaah knows best.