We Tackle This Topic for the Last Time: The Quranic Verse 4:15 Has Nothing to Do with Lesbianism

Published in March 6, 2019

Translated by: Ahmed Fathy

Firstly: we are the first thinker to prove that the penalty of stoning someone to death has nothing to do with Islam:

 This is detailed in our article in English found on this link: (http://www.ahl-alquran.com/English/show_article.php?main_id=2687); this article was published in Cairo, Egypt, in Arabic in the mid-1990s; it is found in Arabic on these links, published in 2005 and 2006 respectively: (http://www.ahewar.org/debat/show.art.asp?aid=29051) & (http://ahl-alquran.com/arabic/show_article.php?main_id=17). We are sick to death with so many repeated questions we receive via email about the Quranic verse 4:15; this verse has nothing to do with lesbianism at all (a sin not mentioned in the Quran at all). This verse is about women who are sex workers who are not flogged (and they are not to receive ANY corporeal punishments) but punished in an another way: "Those of your women who commit lewdness, you must have four witnesses against them, from among you. If they testify, confine them to the homes until death claims them, or God makes a way for them." (4:15). We have proven in many previous fatwas that this verse has nothing to do with lesbianism. Lesbians, who are, of course, committing a grave sin like practicing homosexuals, are not to be stoned or flogged at all. Homosexual practices of gays and lesbians have no corporeal punishment in Islam; see our articles, in English, on the links below:

http://www.ahl-alquran.com/English/show_article.php?main_id=14153

http://www.ahl-alquran.com/English/show_article.php?main_id=14158

http://www.ahl-alquran.com/English/show_article.php?main_id=15299

Secondly: examples of some of our fatwas regarding the fact that the Quran contains no penalty of stoning at all and that it does not mention lesbianism at all:

Islam Does NOT Contain Stoning Anyone

Published in November 15, 2007

Question: … Dear Sir, …  Please prove to me briefly that Islam has nothing to do with the penalty of stoning someone to death … Thank you …       

Answer:

 Of course, Sunnite contradictory hadiths about stoning have nothing to do with Islam; there is no such a thing as Sunna hadiths in Islam; Islam is the Quran only. The Quran contains no penalty or corporal punishment known as stoning; the crime of stoning someone to death is mentioned ONLY within the contexts of Quranic stories of prophets/messengers and believers with them who were threatened by disbelievers/polytheists with the possibility of being stoned to death; see the Quranic verses 11:91, 19:46, 44:20, 36:18, 18:20, and 26:116. Sadly, the polytheistic Sunnite Muhammadans were negatively influenced by the Old Testament and introduced in their Sunnite hadiths and fiqh the idea of stoning to death married fornicators (i.e., adulterers and adulteresses) while wrongly assuming that flogging is preserved only to unmarried fornicators. This is known as ascribing lies and myths to the Lord God's Religion. Patriarchal Sunnite fiqh scholars typically punished mostly women (and few men) by stoning them to death after false and true accusations of adultery; few men suffered this terrible punishment in the history of the Muhammadans. This stoning contradicts the Quran, because all fornicators caught red-handed are to be flogged as per the Quranic verse 24:1-2. Yet, it is extremely difficult to prove adultery/fornication using four witnesses; this is why applying the punishment of flogging is not easy and very rare. Besides, the penalty is not exacted in case of sincere repentance declared in public. As per the Quranic verse 4:15, women who are of ill-reputation as sex workers are not flogged; they are imprisoned in their houses (until they die or get married) and no visitors/customers are allowed to enter into their houses. As per the Quranic verse 24:33, women (free or enslaved) who are forced to become sex workers are not punished at all. We infer from the Quranic verse 4:25 that no (un)married (fe)male fornicators are stoned at all. One cannot marry fornicators unless they repent and became no longer labeled as such.

Those of Your Women

Published in August 7, 2007

Question: … Dear Sir, … Do the Quranic verses 4:15-16 tackle the penalty for homosexuals (i.e., lesbians in the Quranic verse 4:15 and gays in the Quranic verse 4:16) as per views in the YouTube videos of Dr. Muhammad Shahrour, as the Arabic grammatical dual masculine form is used in 4:16 and the feminine dual form in the Quranic verse 4:15? Or do you disagree with that? … Thank you …        

Answer:

 The view you talk about here about women is quite faulty and wrong indeed. The Lord God says the following in the Quran: "Those of your women who commit lewdness, you must have four witnesses against them, from among you. If they testify, confine them to the homes until death claims them, or God makes a way for them." (4:15). This verse tackles women who are sex workers within houses of ill-repute where male customers visit them for illicit sex (fornication). This has nothing to do with homosexuals or lesbians at all; grammatical Arabic rules were formulated centuries after the advent of the Quran and cannot be used to interpret Quranic verses. The form in 4:15 is plural and NOT the dual feminine form. As for the Quranic verse 4:16, it is indeed about two men (and the dual masculine form is used clearly) who commit homosexual relations, prohibited in Islam, and the punishment is severe rebuke in public, scandalizing them, and shunning them both till they repent. God says in the Quran: "If two men among you commit it, punish them both. But if they repent and reform, leave them alone. God is Redeemer, Full of Mercy." (4:16).

Lesbianism

Published in September 12, 2018

Question:  … Dear Sir, … I'm a graduate of Al-Azhar University like you; I have read your entire archive and I browse your website regularly …  I like your ponderings about the fact that lesbians and homosexuals are not punished by any human beings as no penalties (or corporeal punishments) for them are found in the Quranic text; God will judge and punish them only in the Hereafter if they died without sincere repentance ........... About the Quranic verses 4:15-16, you have written that the Quranic verse 4:16 is about homosexuals who are to be rebuked and advised to adhere to chastity, and I agree, and the Quranic verse 4:15 is not about lesbians, but about lewd women who are sex workers and they are to be prevented from sinning by not allowing any men to enter into their houses; right? This is not about lesbians, as keeping such women together in one place will not prevent lesbianism, right? Do have the pleasure of understanding your views correctly? … Thank you …      

Answer:

 Thank you for your open-mindedness; of course, you have perfectly comprehended what we have written. Any sexual behavior outside heterosexual marriages is forbidden in Islam; see the Quranic verse 23:1-7. Sexual sins are of two types: small mishaps and mistakes like lustful looks, masturbation, sexual touches/kisses, and watching pornographic material or movies. The Lord God will forgive those who commit such small sins if they avoid the grave sins like fornication/adultery and the practice of lesbian/gay sex. Even grave sins can be forgiven by the Lord God if one repents sincerely and adhere to chastity. As for penalties, the Lord God mentions in the Quranic verse 4:16 that people are to rebuke any two men who engage into sex together, and there are no penalties of flogging/stoning them or putting them to death like the case of the wicked Sunnite religion. Lesbianism has no penalty applied by people in this world. Corporeal punishments mentioned in the Quran are for fornicators/adulterers/adulteresses, thieves, and for those who spread sexual slanders about women; there is no stoning in Islam at all. Of course, other grave sins have no penalties applied/exacted by people within Islam on sinners/violators; e.g., drinking wine. Of course, such sinners (gays, lesbians, adulterers, fornicators, and wine-drinkers) are punished in the Hereafter in Hell in case they did not repent sincerely before their death. 

Homosexuality Implied in the Quranic Verse 4:16

Published in June 3, 2018

Question: …  Dear Sir, … The Lord God says in the Quran: "If two men among you commit it, harm them both. But if they repent and reform, leave them alone. God is Redeemer, Full of Mercy." (4:16) … What is meant by "harm" here for homosexual men?! Is it stoning, shunning and ostracism, or something else?! … Does this verse refer to lesbians or not: "Those of your women who commit lewdness, you must have four witnesses against them, from among you. If they testify, confine them to the homes until death claims them, or God makes a way for them." (4:15)? … Thank you …        

Answer:

 As for the Quranic verse 4:15, it refers to women who run or work in houses of ill-repute (or brothels) as sex workers and there are no witnesses to prove it. These women are to remain in their houses, while never leaving their houses to hunt for customers and never allowing customers to enter into their house until such women repent before they die (i.e., natural death and not to be put to death). As for the Quranic verse 4:16, it shows that the penalty for practicing homosexual men is severe rebuke in public so that they repent and adhere to chastity; the severe rebuke is what is meant by the term ''harm''; once they repent, such public rebuke is stopped. In Islam, the Celestial Religion of the Lord God, there is no killing at all for homosexuals by stoning or by other means; such penalties are found only in man-made earthly/terrestrial religions such as the Old Testament and the Sunnite religion. We have repeated this answer in previous fatwas; please read our entire archive of writings/fatwas first before posing repeated questions.

Thirdly: more details:

 Of course, repentant female sex workers should no longer be imprisoned inside their houses if they repent and got married. The verse 4:16 is about homosexual men who commit the sin of having sex with each other:  "If two men among you commit it, rebuke them both. But if they repent and reform, leave them alone. God is Redeemer, Full of Mercy." (4:16). Their penalty is rebuked/reproached in public so that they feel ashamed of their misconduct and repent and retrieve their chastity; this is unlike the Sunnite fiqh of Satan of killing homosexuals (by stoning or otherwise). Yet, 4:16 does NOT imply at all that 4:15 is about lesbians; lesbianism is never mentioned in the Quran. Of course, 4:16 is part of advising people to avoid vice within active social service in a Quran-based society, and not to impose anything on anyone by terror and force or through injustice and framing innocent people (as the case of the devilish Saudi religious police which violate human rights, spy on people, and trespass on the privacy of others).

Lastly: the sad fact:

 Sadly, stoning is still present in Wahabi and Shiite countries who kill homosexuals, lesbians, and adulteresses/adulterers; no one in the media in the Arab world cares to spread and announce the fact that Islam has nothing to do with such cruelty. Sadly, many questions in the past 10 years have come to us via email about if the Quranic verse 4:15 is concerned with lesbianism or not! Few people read our entire archive of writings and fatwas to find answers to their questions before posing them  and they waste our precious time by making us feel obliged to repeat the answers ad infinitum, ad nauseam. We beg to be allowed (after we have reached the age of 70 in March, 2019) to insist on saving our time and effort; we have several books to finish before we die. It will be appreciated very much if our readers help us save our time and effort by looking for answers to their questions within our entire online archive of writings: books, articles, comments, and fatwas. We thank all people in advance.