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Is it permissible to punish a brother who committed sodomy with his nephew, and how can he be punished without harming the parents or causing a scandal?

1 min readAlso available in العربية

Sodomy is a grave sin, and its sinfulness increases if committed by a Muslim with one of his relatives. If penetration does not occur, it is not considered sodomy, but it is one of its dangerous preliminaries. The punishment for the offending brother is not for you to mete out, but for the Shariah judge. However, he should be reminded and instilled with the fear of Allah Almighty, and that he must offer sincere repentance. He can be threatened with informing his father or your husband as a deterrent, keeping in mind that not informing them might be better to avoid greater harms. The ruling on boycotting varies depending on what is hoped to be achieved by it. It is not permissible to allow the brother to be alone with the son if there is fear for the son. The son should be cared for, guided, and informed about the harms of this act, and stories like that of the people of Lut should be used as examples. If the son needs psychological and educational specialists, he should be referred to them without the father's knowledge to avoid greater harms. The son should be connected with a righteous environment.

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

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