Mu' meneen Brothers and Sisters,

As Salaam Aleikum wa Rahmatullahi wa Barakatuh. (May Allah's Peace, Mercy and Blessings be upon all of you)

One of our brothers/sisters has asked this question:

My husband had a sexual relation with my own sister for two months n they both admitted infront of me abt their sin. what the punishment in this condition for him. Am i still in his nikkah? 

(There may be some grammatical and spelling errors in the above statement. The forum does not change anything from questions, comments and statements received from our readers for circulation in confidentiality.)

Answer:

Husband commits adultery

In the name of Allah, We praise Him, seek His help and ask for His forgiveness. Whoever Allah guides none can misguide, and whoever He allows to fall astray, none can guide them aright. We bear witness that there is none worthy of worship but Allah Alone, and we bear witness that Muhammad (saws) is His slave-servant and the seal of His Messengers.

Your Question: …..what the punishment in this condition for him.

Allah Says in the Holy Quran Chapter 24 Surah Noor verse 2:

2 The woman and the man guilty of ‘zina’ (fornication) flog each of them with a hundred stripes: let not compassion move you in their case in a matter prescribed by Allah if ye believe in Allah and the Last Day: and let a party of the believers witness their punishment.

Sahih Al-Bukhari Hadith 8.810 Narrated by Jabir

A man from the tribe of Aslam came to the Prophet (saws) and confessed that he had committed adultery (illegal sexual intercourse). The Prophet (saws) turned his face away from him till the man bore witness against himself four times. The Prophet (saws) said to him, "Are you mad?" He said "No." The Prophet (saws) asked, "Are you married?" He said, "Yes." Then the Prophet (saws) ordered that he be stoned to death, and he was stoned to death at the Musalla (public gathering place).

The prescribed punishment for the sin of ‘zina’ in Shariah depends on the marital status of the person found guilty and convicted of the crime in a court of Shariah Law:

1. Fornication: If the man or the woman who is convicted for the crime of ‘zina’ is unmarried (fornication), Shariah Law prescribes a punishment for a 100 lashes in public.
2. Adultery: If the man or the woman who is convicted for the crime of ‘zina’ is married (adultery), Shariah Law prescribes that the guilty should be stoned to death in public.

Respected sister in Islam, if you live in an Islamic State, and your husband confesses to his crime of ‘zina’ to the Shariah Judge in a Shariah Court of Law, the Shariah Court Judge would sentence your husband to be stoned to death.

But if you do not live an in an Islamic State, and your husband and your sister committed the abomination of ‘zina’ through mutual consent which obviously is not a crime punishable by the man-made ‘laws of this ‘modern’-world’……there would be no punishment for them in the life of this world!!!

Allah says in the Holy Quran Chapter 25 Surah Furqaan verses 63-71:

The (true) servants of the Merciful are those who walk humbly on the earth. When the ignorant people behave insolently towards them, they say, “Peace to you”; (And those) who pass their nights in prostrating themselves and standing before their Lord and pray, “O our Lord, save us from the torment of Hell, for its torment is killing! It is an evil abode, and an evil resting place”. (And those) who, when they spend are neither extravagant, nor miserly, but keep the golden mean between the two extremes. (And those) who do not invoke any god but Allah Alone, nor kill a soul unjustly, which Allah has forbidden, nor commit adultery… He who does this shall be punished for his sin, and his torment shall be doubled on the Day of Resurrection, and he shall abide in a state of ignominy; EXCEPT THE ONE WHO MAY HAVE REPENTED (AFTER THOSE SINS), AND HAVE BELIEVED AND DONE RIGHTEOUS DEEDS. For then, Allah will change his evil deeds into good deeds, and He is very Forgiving and Merciful. In fact, one who repents and does righteous deeds, returns to Allah as one rightly should!

If your husband (and your sister) realize the enormity of the transgression and the crime they have committed in the Sight of their Lord Creator, choose to turn unto their Lord in ‘taubah’ and seek sincere forgiveness, and subsequently amend their conduct, it is expected that they will find their Lord Forgiving and Merciful. But if Allah forbid, they do not seek repentance for their abomination, and were to die in a state whereby they did not repent for their crime, their case is with Allah Subhanah Alone….Who, if He Wills, might extract full retribution for their transgression on that Inevitable and Tumultuous Day of Judgment, or forgive them.

Your Question: Am i still in his nikkah? 

As grave and as heinous an abomination as ‘zina’ your husband might have committed, the crime of ‘zina’ by itself does not invalidate your ‘nikaah’ with your husband in the least. Rest absolutely assured sister, regardless of the enormity of the crime committed by your husband, you will remain in his ‘nikaah’ as long as he decides to divorce you, or you choose to divorce him.

The one and only thing which breaks one’s ‘nikaah’ in Shariah is the establishment of divorce.

Whatever written of Truth and benefit is only due to Allah’s Assistance and Guidance, and whatever of error is of me alone. Allah Alone Knows Best and He is the Only Source of Strength.

Your brother and well wisher in Islam,

Burhan