Maulana Wahiduddin Khan
Surah An-Nisa
Surah 4 · An-Nisa · verse 15 of 176

Quran 4:15 · An-Nisa

وَٱلَّـٰتِي يَأۡتِينَ ٱلۡفَٰحِشَةَ مِن نِّسَآئِكُمۡ فَٱسۡتَشۡهِدُواْ عَلَيۡهِنَّ أَرۡبَعَةٗ مِّنكُمۡۖ فَإِن شَهِدُواْ فَأَمۡسِكُوهُنَّ فِي ٱلۡبُيُوتِ حَتَّىٰ يَتَوَفَّىٰهُنَّ ٱلۡمَوۡتُ أَوۡ يَجۡعَلَ ٱللَّهُ لَهُنَّ سَبِيلٗا

Those who commit unlawful sexual intercourse of your women - bring against them four [witnesses] from among you. And if they testify, confine the guilty women to houses until death takes them or Allah ordains for them [another] way

Translation: Sahih International
Maulana’s commentary · Tazkirul Quran

If a man or a woman commits an act considered a sin according to Islamic tenets, he or she will be dealt with in accordance with the rule of law, and not arbitrarily. It is unjust to declare anyone a criminal without fulfilling the legal conditions, nor is there permission to proceed summarily against even a proven criminal. The purpose of punishment is to uphold justice, and justice cannot be upheld through tyranny and injustice. Moreover, if a sinner pleads guilty and reforms himself, it becomes essential to adopt a sympathetic and forgiving attitude towards him. It is not proper to assess anyone on the basis of his past. When God Himself pardons those who sincerely repent, and turns in His benevolence to those who reform and improve, mere mortals have no right to taunt and ridicule former delinquents. One who taunts and ridicules them may yet prove to be a transgressor himself.

Maulana Wahiduddin Khan, Tazkirul Quran

In the lectures

Maulana does not cite this verse in the lectures indexed so far. The verses of this surah Maulana does cite →