﴿ ٱلزَّانِى لَا يَنكِحُ إِلَّا زَانِيَةً أَوْ مُشْرِكَةًۭ وَٱلزَّانِيَةُ لَا يَنكِحُهَآ إِلَّا زَانٍ أَوْ مُشْرِكٌۭ ۚ وَحُرِّمَ ذَٰلِكَ عَلَى ٱلْمُؤْمِنِينَ ﴾

“[Both are equally guilty:] the adulterer couples with none other than an adulteress - that is, a woman who accords [to her own lust] a place side by side with God; and with the adulteress couples none other than an adulterer - that is, a man who accords [to his own lust] a place side by side with God: and this is forbidden unto the believers.”

This chapter was revealed in the year 6 A.H., after the campaign of Banu al-Mustaliq. A minor incident took place during this campaign, which the hypocrites of Madinah chose to misrepresent in order to defame ‘A’ishah, the Prophet’s wife, and create trouble for the Prophet Muhammad. In this chapter, on the one hand, ‘A’ishah has been completely exonerated, and on the other hand, legal provisions to be enforced under similar social circumstances, have been laid down. In Islamic law, zina i.e. an illicit sexual relationship (which includes in its definition fornication, adultery and rape) is an extremely serious offence. Giving a hundred lashes to a man or woman indulging in adultery is the punishment prescribed for illicit relations between unmarried persons. The purpose of meting out punishment in public is to add a deterrent aspect to the penal provision. The idea is that, after seeing the fate of the guilty persons in question, anyone who has any intention of committing such a crime will desist from doing so. If men or women guilty of illicit sexual relations repent and reform after punishment, they may again resume the lives of believers. But, if they fail to do so, they can no longer be accepted in Islamic society as being fit for marital relations.