Is not the confinement to houses in verse 15 of Surat An-Nisaa a Hadd (prescribed punishment) for zina (unlawful sexual intercourse)? If so, how can one explain the punishment of slave women with half of that (punishment) for free, married women in verse 25 of the same surah, especially if the punishment for a free, married woman is stoning, whereas if it were one hundred lashes, then half would be fifty lashes for the slave woman? This is keeping in mind that the verse concerning the female and male fornicator (Surat An-Nur, verse 2) did not differentiate between the muhsan (free, married person) and the ghayr muhsan (unmarried person).

The verse about confining women to their homes (Surat An-Nisa, 4:15: "And those who commit unlawful sexual intercourse of your women - bring against them four [witnesses] from among you. And if they testify, confine them to the houses until death takes them or Allah ordains for them [another] way.") is abrogated by the punishment of stoning for the married adulterer and flogging for the unmarried adulterer, and the punishment for a male or female slave who commits adultery is fifty lashes, based on Allah's saying: "And when they have been taken in marriage, if they commit indecency, then for them is half of what is due to free married women of punishment" (Surat An-Nisa, 4:25). Stoning is established for free married women by the authentic Sunnah. It was in the Book of Allah, then its wording was abrogated but its ruling remained, as 'Umar ibn Al-Khattab, may Allah be pleased with him, said: "The old man and the old woman, if they commit adultery, stone them both absolutely, as a deterrent from Allah, and Allah is Almighty and Wise."