Ruling on the crime of rape

Source IslamQA

72338: Ruling on the crime of rape

What is the ruling on the crime of rape in Islam?

Published Date: 2005-08-22

Praise be to Allaah.

The Arabic word ightisaab refers to taking something wrongfully by force. It is now used exclusively to refer to transgression against the honour of women by force (rape).

This is an abhorrent crime that is forbidden in all religions and in the minds of all wise people and those who are possessed of sound human nature. All earthly systems and laws regard this action as abhorrent and impose the strictest penalties on it, except a few states which waive the punishment if the rapist marries his victim! This is indicative of a distorted mind let alone a lack of religious commitment on the part of those who challenge Allaah in making laws. We do not know of any love or compassion that could exist between the aggressor and his victim, especially since the pain of rape cannot be erased with the passage of time – as it is said. Hence many victims of rape have attempted to commit suicide and many of them have succeeded, The failure of these marriages is proven and they are accompanied by nothing but humiliation and suffering for the woman.

Islam has a clear stance which states that this repugnant action is haraam and imposes a deterrent punishment on the one who commits it.

Islam closes the door to the criminal who wants to commit this crime. Western studies have shown that most rapists are already criminals who commit their crimes under the influence of alcohol and drugs, and they take advantage of the fact that their victims are walking alone in isolated places, or staying in the house alone. These studies also show that what the criminals watch on the media and the semi-naked styles of dress in which women go out, also lead to the commission of this reprehensible crime.

The laws of Islam came to protect women's honour and modesty. Islam forbids women to wear clothes that are not modest and to travel without a mahram; it forbids a woman to shake hands with a non-mahram man. Islam encourages young men and women to marry early, and many other rulings which close the door to rape. Hence it comes as no surprise when we hear or read that most of these crimes occur in permissive societies which are looked up to by some Muslims as examples of civilization and refinement! In America – for example – International Amnesty stated in a 2004 report entitled “Stop Violence Against Women” that every 90 seconds a woman was raped during that year. What kind of life are these people living? What refinement and civilization do they want the Muslim women to take part in?

The punishment for rape in Islam is same as the punishment for zina, which is stoning if the perpetrator is married, and one hundred lashes and banishment for one year if he is not married.

Some scholars also say that he is required to pay a mahr to the woman.

Imam Maalik (may Allaah have mercy on him) said:

In our view the man who rapes a woman, whether she is a virgin or not, if she is a free woman he must pay a “dowry” like that of her peers, and if she is a slave he must pay whatever has been detracted from her value. The punishment is to be carried out on the rapist and there is no punishment for the woman who has been raped, whatever the case. End quote.

Al-Muwatta’, 2/734

Shaykh Salmaan al-Baaji (may Allaah have mercy on him) said:

In the case of a woman who is forced (raped): if she is a free woman, the one who forced her must pay her a “dowry” like that of her peers, and the hadd punishment is to be carried out on him. This is the view of al-Shaafa’i, and it is the view of al-Layth, and it was also narrated from ‘Ali ibn Abi Taalib (may Allaah be pleased with him).

Abu Haneefah and al-Thawri said: the hadd punishment is to be carried out on him but he is not obliged to pay the “dowry”.

The evidence for what we say is that the hadd punishment and the “dowry” are two rights, one of which is the right of Allaah and the other is the right of the other person. So they may be combined, as in the case of a thief whose hand is cut off and he is required to return the stolen goods. End quote.

Al-Muntaha Sharh al-Muwatta’, 5/268, 269

Ibn ‘Abd al-Barr (may Allaah have mercy on him) said:

The scholars are unanimously agreed that the rapist is to be subjected to the hadd punishment if there is clear evidence against him that he deserves the hadd punishment, or if he admits to that. Otherwise, he is to be punished (i.e., if there is no proof that the hadd punishment for zina may be carried out against him because he does not confess, and there are not four witnesses, then the judge may punish him and stipulate a punishment that will deter him and others like him). There is no punishment for the woman if it is true that he forced her and overpowered her, which may be proven by her screaming and shouting for help. End quote.

Al-Istidhkaar, 7/146

Secondly:

The rapist is subject to the hadd punishment for zina, even if the rape was not carried out at knife-point or gun-point. If the use of a weapon was threatened, then he is a muhaarib, and is to be subjected to the hadd punishment described in the verse in which Allaah says (interpretation of the meaning):

“The recompense of those who wage war against Allaah and His Messenger and do mischief in the land is only that they shall be killed or crucified or their hands and their feet be cut off from opposite sides, or be exiled from the land. That is their disgrace in this world, and a great torment is theirs in the Hereafter”

[al-Maaidah 5:33]

So the judge has the choice of the four punishments mentioned in this verse, and may choose whichever he thinks is most suitable to attain the objective, which is to spread peace and security in society, and ward off evildoers and aggressors.

See also question no. 41682

And Allaah knows best.

Filling your house with stuff

I have recently acquired a house due to my divorce. It's mine, like it's in my name but it's a house provided by my ex for my baby girl to grow up in. So it's hers really.

These last few weeks I have been half excited to have it and half not. Excited because It would seem that I have my own home and growing up in care, I never had that base, that security and that belonging. Half not excited because the only reason I have it is because I gave my virginity to my ex husband and we made a baby. So if it belongs to me, then it feels like a trade and that sucks so badly I can't even think about it much. So I have decided it is my daughters' house and her future college and uni fund. After all, that's why my ex provided it, for her security to grow up in (not to mention the small matter of his pending court case for domestic abuse which he more than hinted at when we exchanged the contract - douche)

There are three bedrooms so, the third bedroom I intent to rent out (ia) and the profit on that room I shall put away for a deposit on my own house of my choosing, that I will have saved for and I figured I'd keep any extra profit on top of the current value of the house because I will be maintaining it for the future.  Mental gymnastics I know, but the "home" thing is so important to me and how I come by things is also so important to me too. I have to feel good about how I accept anything, I guess we all do. If I lose myself in life then I have nothing, truly nothing. People come and go, stuff comes and goes, you always have who you are and hopefully we can look in the mirror and not feel too ashamed of ourselves in life. That's the treasure right there, for me.

I own a rucksack full of clothes and some shoes, some tech and that's it. Now I have to think about sofas and cushions, pictures, pots pans and ornabloodyments. I'm not bothered about belongings,  I hate clutter and unnecessary items but I am now tasked with creating a home, a home where my girl will grow up. How do you create that home when some of it is down to belongings which fill that house? That hard part is that I don't want to give her values that I don't believe in so how can I fill a house with stuff when I don't need or like all that? But also I don't want her to be uncomfortable and embarrassed to bring her friends back to where she lives. I don't want her to struggle to call a place a home like I do now. I want this to be natural for her to feel comfortable in but also to be able to drop in in a heartbeat and not look back.

I saw that with people who had their houses flooded recently, some for the second or third time. There were people who came to terms with what happened quickly and were instantly looking forward like what they are going to do and formulating a plan and there were some who were devastated like they had lost everything in life just because their house was flooded. It's stuff, keep your history in your heart not in items that will ruin and be thieved. 

The other things is, I so don't care about what all the stuff in the house looks like, colours, style etc, that it makes it really hard to think about choosing anything. I just feel like I'm being swallowed up by consumerism and trudging into the murky world of what's trending.

I feel the same about my blog when helpful well meaning people are like...."With a few tweaks your blog could be..this....and ....that... and you could earn some serious coin"

I DON'T CARE!!!!!

My blog is for me, read it or don't read it. I don't live for money, I don't live for notoriety or chase after fame or suck up to B listers. I live for Allah (swt) and try and do my best.

Stuff doesn't matter - home is where your blood is at.

Sex: Part 2 - Sex and Sexuality

"Muslim men are afraid of a woman's sexuality, that's why she has to hide under cloth."

This was another statement told to me, that I felt deserved its own blog slot.

Firstly, let me just say that no Muslim woman hides, we cover. Most of the women I know are quite confident and have no need to hide anything. We cover our bodies as much as we feel is right for our religion and as a worship to God. For some women that would be completely in black covered from head to foot and for others it would be partially in black with regular loose clothing and for others it would be a range of colours and very creatively but still very modestly covered. 

In the Uk, women are free to express their sexuality in any way they wish. For Muslim women, most of that expression happens in the privacy of their own home as part of a family growing up as a child with your siblings and subsequently as a wife with your husband. Once a woman is within the privacy of her own home with her husband, she can be as creative as she likes, wearing what she likes and being as sexually expressive as she likes to be. I can imagine that most husbands would not have a problem with their wife expressing her sexuality at home, within the confines of their marriage, however fierce that sexuality is. 

Sex is a part of sexuality and I get the impression that non Muslims think that Muslim women are so restricted that we are not allowed to be normal and powerful in ourselves within a private and intimate situation. That's so rubbish.

My realisation of my own sexuality came about quite a bit later than what is considered 'normal' I guess because I had other things occupying my mind, like safety from harmful people. Whenever a man came within a meter distance I'd be so conscious of his presence and how I could escape if he became aggressive, I didn't have room in my mind for any other thoughts or feelings during puberty. I still felt the same when I got married as my husband wasn't in the least bit affectionate and so I didn't catch up with myself, sexuality-wise, until just as I was getting divorced, which truly is funny. 

Sex and sexuality is celebrated in Islam, it's just celebrated in a context that protects both people and gives them privacy to be themselves. It annoys me so badly much when non Muslims suggest that to be out, proud and confident with your sexuality is the only way to have freedom in this area, if it's not all on show then you're not free apparently. Another load of rubbish. Just because there are some horror stories from within the Islamic society about suppressed females being bullied and intimidated, it doesn't at all mean that's the norm or the majority. Neither would it be for me to assume that when I see girls vomit all over the street from binge drinking, that all non religious girls behaved like this or held these values.

Allah has given us guidelines as to the proper context for a woman to express her sexuality. In this context there is protection, safety, trust and commitment and in the other there are manifold dangers, no trust or commitment. Just luck and often poor judgement.

Islam offers protection to women, safety and true value. 

Marine A: James O'Brien @LBC

James' first discussion of the day and as usual, some good quality callers to the show saying why they either support the action against this marine or why they don't.

My interest was in the "we are better than them" line from James. If we (meaning those embracing western ideology), are better than them, then we have to be better than them all the time and not change our morals when it suits us, one caller suggested. Having moral superiority and moral high ground, two things James suggested we have here in the UK, are what I am struggling with.

Do we really have the moral high ground in western society? I'm not just considering the absence of barbaric killing as an indicator of a better society, because we do our fair share of barbarism just not on our own shores. I'm looking at all of society across the board.

I'm looking at our teenage pregnancy rate... our prison system... our binge drinking culture... the sexualisation in our music culture that young kids copy.. . our ability to ignore the most vulnerable people in our society... elderly... disabled... orphans and mentally I'll.

Are we morally superior? Are we better? Do we have freedom? Or are we in the west, trapped in our own version of slavery to capitalism and commercialism. How is that freedom? That's just another form of dictatorship with the allusion of freedom of choice.

It's not as black and white and that's the reason we can't stomp into another country, take down a despot then attempt to change their system of governance claiming our western democratic way is better. Imposing on them something that will never work and leave pridefully thinking we've done a good job.

Since becoming a Muslim and experiencing the morals taught from an Islamic point of view. Proper Islam, not some half-ass version spouted by some armchair scholar or misguided nom. It reinforces my decision that I made a few years ago to revert and I look at the lost western society in which I live and feel sad.

The UK constantly puts itself in other countries' business with a prideful superiority that has proven to be illegal and disastrously wrong on more than one occasion. We side with evil dictators when it suits us financially, leave despots in power when they have nothing we need, like oil and then we wonder why we get kickbacks and bring trouble to our yard.

We are not better, we are no better and we have enough affairs of our own to be dealing with, getting right, treating right those in our own country, to be meddling in the affairs of dragons.

Donald Drumpf wouldn't have worked so well

When this whole Donald Trump thing blew up about him advocating banning all Muslims from the US, my initial reaction was a momentary "ugh" of recognition for his ignorance and stupidity. Then I lost interest as would be expected of any rational person.  Then when the petition to ban him from the UK gathered momentum, I didn't understand why people were being so serious about it all but I enjoyed the comedy of others pointing out the cataclysmic holes in his logic and learning about other disturbing comments he's made, like the one about his daughter! Now I'm decidedly undecided as to whether to take his comments about banning Muslims seriously or not.

On one hand, his views on most things are unintelligent to the point where they're funny even and you kind of get the feeling everyone must realise that right? On the other hand,  he's finding popularity with those backward Americans who think as he does and by him speaking out, have been afforded validation in their own bigoted views. 

Then there are those people who reject most of what he says but join with him on this particular issue because they see a terrorist behind every brown-skinned beardy-man and hijabi clad woman and feel that he, at least, would do something to alleviate their anxiety in trying to reject all suspected Muslims from entering their country. What the heck he does about Muslims born in America I have no idea. I imagine living in a country with such bad feeling towards your whole religion and way of life, they'd be avoided/ostracized at best and attacked/killed at worst.

Too far? I don't know. The kind of people who feel this way only need a few others to agree with them and before you know it you've got a mob intent on 'eliminating terrorism' for the sake of National Security. Isn't that what Trump is advocating?

Ironically isn't he causing terror by his proposed actions? How many American Muslims feel fear at the hate being stirred up against Islam and against them as Muslims? Probably the majority I would guess. How many have witnessed or experienced increased incidents of verbal or physical hate towards them more recently?

I certainly have in the UK. I'm glad actually...I'd rather know exactly what's there and deal with it, than it bubbling under the surface while people dance around with acceptable terms suppressing what they really think and feel.

Let him in, invite him on James O'Brien show @LBC let's see if he can respond to reason and logic. If not, then James can at least have some fun!

Health is Wealth

Someone told me this recently "Health is wealth" and I thought it was weird as I'd not heard the saying before. No wonder, as in my society and culture if you're sick, the welfare system catches you. Where as in many other countries, there is absolutely nothing. I've never had to think of that before imagining myself in that situation. As rubbish as my situation was growing up, I had something.

I've been thinking about nothing else much all this week. What if there was nothing, no cash because of illness and no work, no doctor to see without cash, no roof over my head or any prospect of one soon, no school to go to, no medicine even for the simplest infection.

Living somewhere in the world where, if you are sick, you cannot work and therefore you do not eat and if you are really sick, you are not only poor but, you most likely will not live.

It's not news to me how difficult it is for people in other countries.

I just didn't consider it as a reality for me before, just as a fact of others' lives for which I felt enormous sympathy.

If that was my reality, sympathy wouldn't feed me or clothe me or get me medicines.

How do you receive love?

I have been leaning about love because I have a baby girl and really I need to know how to love properly. It doesn't come natural to me at all but in general, I don't think any of us should take for granted that we know what love is and how to love someone. I found this list on the net helping you figure out what way you receive love.

You have to also ask the other person how they receive love too....not how you want to give it to them. I know it seems dumb but it's actually really helpful. I bet if you asked your significant other about this list, you might be surprised what they would answer.

For instance, below is how I receive love. Where as my friend Sophie said she likes her love to be in the form of expensive  gifts and flowers. So it would be no good Sophie's boyfriend trying to show love to her by doing acts of service for her, she said she wouldn't notice or appreciate them.

(A) Words of Affirmation...I get so embarrassed about this when it happens. I never know what to say. Even 'thank you' seems awkward and I visibly go red which I hate. So this one is truly uncomfortable and I don't prefer it, so it's my number 4

(B) Acts of Service... yeh I like this one. This would include bringing up your kid. Being a good wife.  Doing the laundry, making a cup of tea....etc.  I like this one because it's mostly indirect and yet really powerful that you are choosing to love someone even when you're tired and feeling lazy, if you still do things then you are forcing yourself to put another first. Sometimes that's easy; sometimes not so much. This would be number 2 on my list.

(C) Receiving Gifts... Nope, hate this one, hate it, for me.....nope. Too funny. Oh wait, unless it is something meaningful like something cooked or like the mum in one of my foster homes that made me a embroidered pencil case with my name on it. I really loved that so much. This is number 5 for me, right at the bottom. Generally I'm not a gifts person.

(D) Quality Time... Not especially. I mean I like time with someone who I love but not like....contrived time....especially set apart for me only. I hate that kind of attention haha....it makes me embarrassed too. If it happened naturally then sure, I would love it but Quality Time, suggests it's set apart especially. Number 3 on my list.

(E) Physical Touch... This is my number one. It's my most awkward one as I still never had it even though I was married for over a year, he didn't like to hug or anything and I wasn't confident enough to initiate it for the whole entire year ha!. I love hugging my baby girl though and rocking her to sleep.

So based on this list, I probably would love someone in the same way that I like to be loved. Which wouldn't be appropriate for someone else. Be it a friend, family or husband. We all need to be aware of how the other person receives love and act accordingly.