Does one who considers adultery or sodomy personal freedom commit an act of disbelief (kufr)? What is the ruling on one who does not condemn adultery and sees it only as a sin? And does condemning an adulterer necessitate despising him, treating him badly, or striking him?

Whoever considers adultery (zina) and sodomy (liwāṭ) personal freedoms, if he means by that their permissibility and a denial of their prohibition, then this is disbelief in Allah. If he persists in this belief after the truth has been made clear to him, he disbelieves and departs from the fold of Islam. As for one who believes in the prohibition of adultery but does not condemn its perpetrator – despite being able to – he is sinful. And loving to see lovers indicates a sickness in the heart. Enjoining what is right and forbidding what is wrong should be done with gentleness and leniency, not with contempt or violence. The application of legal punishments, such as flogging the fornicator or stoning the married adulterer, is the sole prerogative of the Muslim ruler, not for the general populace.