Qadhf: false accusation of misconduct

Qadhf is an accusation of misconduct made without proof. The encyclopedia gives its Shafi'i definition as accusing someone of zina in public, man or woman, and its Hanbali definition as accusing of zina or liwat, or giving testimony to that effect whose proof is incomplete.

A penalty fixed by the Quran

Those who accuse chaste women without producing four witnesses: flog them with eighty lashes and never accept their testimony again; it is they who are the transgressors.surah an-Nur 4

The penalty is 80 lashes for the free, sane adult. The slave receives 40 according to the majority of scholars, half the free person's penalty, a practice transmitted from the four caliphs; a minority (including Abu Thawr, Dawud and the Zahiris) holds that he receives 80, relying on the generality of the verse. Ibn Hazm and Ibn Rushd record consensus on the figure of 80 for the free person, with no addition.

Explicit words or allusion

The jurists distinguish the explicit formula (calling someone zani), which triggers the hadd by common agreement, from allusion, which does not trigger it according to Hanafis and Shafi'is: the hadd is not established in the presence of doubt. Al-Shafi'i writes that there is neither li'an nor hadd except through an explicit accusation. Malikis and Hanbalis inflict the hadd for allusion when intention or context establishes it; otherwise ta'zir applies, since the act remains a disobedience without a hadd.

The accused must be of established integrity

Five qualities form the agreement of the jurists (Ibn Rushd): puberty, free status, chastity, Islam, and the absence of any prior proof of the act alleged. Whoever's zina is established by evidence or confession no longer has an honor to protect from this accusation, and the hadd falls away for the accuser; Ahmad accepts apparent chastity, meaning the absence of prior proof or confession.

Accusing a group, accusing a spouse

Whoever accuses several people with one formula incurs a single hadd for all of them according to the majority (Hanafis, Malikis, Shafi'is in one view, Hanbalis in the mazhab): one hadd suffices to lift the dishonor, executed for whoever claims it. A husband who accuses his wife without carrying out li'an falls under the rules specific to spouses: the Hanafis give the wife the right to claim the solemn oath and have the husband imprisoned until he swears it or retracts; Malikis, Shafi'is and Hanbalis follow the same logic, li'an being the only path open between spouses.

The right of Allah or the right of the person

The question runs through the schools: Hanafis (and Hanbalis in one transmission) give precedence to the right of Allah, so the pardon of the accused person does not cancel the penalty. Malikis (the most widespread view), Shafi'is and Hanbalis in the mazhab give precedence to the right of the accused person: the penalty is only executed at her request, her pardon cancels it as with qisas, and this right passes to her heirs. Ibn Taymiyya reports the jurists' agreement on one point: the penalty is only executed upon the request of the accused person.

Practical note

The whole chapter aims to protect the honor of others: careless speech about people's honor is treated more strictly than many an act.