Does Islamic Sharia mean that if the number of witnesses for adultery is not met, the hadd (prescribed punishment) for adultery is not applied, even if the obscenity is proven? And if the answer is ta'zir (discretionary punishment), is it impermissible for the ta'zir to exceed ten lashes?

Adultery is one of the gravest sins, and its punishment is severe in this world and the hereafter. For the married (muhsan), the punishment is stoning to death, and for the unmarried (bikr), it is one hundred lashes. In the hereafter, the torment for the adulterer is multiplied, and they will abide therein in disgrace, unless they repent.

To protect honor, Islamic law has made proving adultery very difficult, and it has made slandering chaste women without evidence one of the major sins that necessitates eighty lashes for the slanderer.

If the crime of adultery is not proven with sufficient evidence, the worldly punishment (hadd) is waived, but the punishment in the hereafter remains, based on the reality of the matter.

This is affirmed by the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, who said: "Indeed, you bring your disputes to me, and perhaps some of you are more eloquent in presenting their argument than others. So, if I rule for someone a right belonging to his brother based on his words, then I am only cutting off for him a piece of hellfire, so let him not take it."