Zinā

Zinā (Arabic: زنا) is a term in Islamic law denoting sexual intercourse between two people not bound by lawful marriage. Islamic jurisprudence classifies it among grave offences, and it is a subject directly addressed in the foundational texts—the Quran and hadith.

The Somali term 'sinada' exists in both religious and secular usage. Modern state laws in most Muslim countries vary in their adoption and definition of the offence: some have removed it from criminal statutes, others retain it in modified form.

Religious textual basis

The Quran explicitly prohibits zinā and specifies the punishment as a fixed number of lashes. Hadith and the practice of the jurists distinguish between the married and unmarried offender, leading to different rulings. In jurisprudential tradition, this matter falls under 'hudud'—penalties whose number and form are prescribed in law and cannot be altered at a judge's discretion.

Evidentiary requirements

The major schools of Islamic law impose stringent standards of proof. Generally, conviction requires four eyewitnesses to the act itself, or a confession by the accused. Jurists have also held that any doubt removes the hadd (prescribed penalty) and that one who falsely accuses another of the offence incurs punishment. In practice, the application of hudud law has been rare given the rigour of these conditions.

Modern law

During the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, many Muslim states adopted criminal codes based on European systems, removing zinā from state-enforced offences or treating it as a private family matter. From the 1970s onward, some states have reintroduced provisions based on Islamic jurisprudence. As a result, the legal status of zinā varies from country to country.