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Does unintentional adultery, occurring due to a woman's seduction, not necessitate the prescribed punishment?

1 min readAlso available in العربية

Adultery has two meanings: a general one and a specific one. The general meaning is the participation of all limbs in committing an act of forbidden pleasure, and its perpetrator deserves punishment and disciplinary action (ta'zir). As for the specific meaning, it entails the prescribed punishment (hadd) of flogging or stoning. This is the deliberate sexual intercourse by a legally responsible Muslim male with the private parts of a human being with whom he has no marital right. Whoever is overcome by lust and commits adultery (zina) in this specific sense, it is precisely adultery, and it necessitates the prescribed legal punishment (hadd shar'i). A Muslim must avoid the causes of temptation, seclusion, and mixing, for Allah has commanded lowering the gaze and guarding one's private parts, and the Prophet forbade seclusion with a non-mahram woman and touching her.

Summarized from the full answer at Ftawy · reviewed Sep 2, 2026

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