Hadith Text

Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) separated (divorced) the wife from her husband who accused her for an illegal sexual intercourse, and made them take the oath of Lian.

Context and Meaning

This hadith from Sahih al-Bukhari 5313 addresses the procedure of Li'an (mutual imprecation) when a husband accuses his wife of adultery without producing four witnesses. The Prophet (ﷺ) implemented this divine injunction from Surah An-Nur (24:6-9) to resolve such grave allegations while protecting both parties' rights.

Scholarly Commentary

Li'an is a solemn oath procedure where the husband swears four times by Allah that he is truthful in his accusation, with a fifth oath invoking Allah's curse upon himself if he lies. The wife then swears four times by Allah that her husband is lying, with a fifth oath invoking Allah's wrath upon herself if he is truthful.

The separation resulting from Li'an is a final divorce (ba'in) that prevents reconciliation and remarriage between the couple. This ruling serves as divine wisdom to prevent false accusations of adultery (qadhf) while providing an escape from the prescribed punishment when evidence is lacking.

Classical scholars emphasize that Li'an preserves family honor, protects women from slander, and maintains social order by providing a legal mechanism for separation when trust is irrevocably broken between spouses.

Legal Consequences

Upon completion of Li'an, the marriage is dissolved permanently, the punishment for adultery is averted for both parties, and the child born from such union is attributed to the mother alone, not the accusing husband.