وَيَدْرَأُ عَنْهَا الْعَذَابَ أَنْ تَشْهَدَ أَرْبَعَ شَهَادَاتٍ بِاللَّهِ إِنَّهُ لَمِنَ الْكَاذِبِينَ

وَالْخَامِسَةَ أَنَّ غَضَبَ اللَّهِ عَلَيْهَا إِن كَانَ مِنَ الصَّادِقِينَ

The punishment shall be averted from her by her testifying with four oaths [sworn] by Allah that he is indeed lying,

and a fifth [oath] that Allah’s wrath shall be upon her if he were stating the truth.

 

EXEGESIS

Yadraʾu (shall be averted) is a conjugate of daraʾa which has the meaning of averting or turning something away, and here refers to averting the punishment of zināʾ.^[1]

EXPOSITION

As mentioned, the four oaths of the husband replace the testimonies of four witnesses. As such, the accused woman is now liable to be punished for adultery, as it has been legally established. She may however avert that punishment from herself by also testifying with four oaths. If the woman refuses to testify with the oaths, she will be punished for adultery.

The punishment spoken of in the previous verse refers to the worldly ḥadd punishment. If the accused is actually lying she may have averted the worldly punishment, but will have traded it for the far more severe punishment of the hereafter (as is the case for the man if he is lying). This is why in many of the reports the Prophet paused at the fifth oath and urged both the accuser and the accused to be very careful with what they were about to say, as it would necessitate punishment.^[2]

When the accuser finishes his four oaths, he then calls the curse (laʿnah) of God upon himself, should he be lying; when the accused finishes her four oaths, she calls upon the wrath (ghaḍab) of God upon herself should she be lying. It has been said that since she is being accused, she should use a more emphatic expression to completely nullify the accusation. As such, the curse of God means to be far removed from His mercy, whereas His wrath is more severe than that, since it is active in bringing about punishment.^[3]

However, it is actually the other way around. The curse of God is far worse than His wrath. God’s wrath may befall any sinner but not His curse. His curse closes all doors of mercy, while that is not the case with His wrath. Considering the context and situation, it is more forgivable if a woman lies in such cases because of the horror of stoning, so she is not subject to His curse, while the man has no such worry if he lies and cold bloodedly subjects his wife to stoning.

[1] Mizan, 15/82.
[2] See the reports mentioned under verse 6.
[3] Nemuneh, 14/384.