Li‘an (mutual imprecation of spouses)

Question

Question: Zayd (an ordinary man, somewhat acquainted with religious issues, whom the people of one or two villages give the title of “qadi”) had li‘an performed between a husband and wife according to the rules of the Shari‘a, gave the ruling of separation (tafriq), and said that between these two, according to the noble hadith: [ar]المتلاعنان لا يجتمعان أبدًا[/ar] “The two who have performed li‘an shall never come together,” nikah has become forbidden forever and its becoming lawful again is impossible.

Answer

[ar]وأهله من هو أهل الشهادة على المسلم، فمن قذف بصريح الزنا في دار الإسلام زوجته العفيفة من الزنا وصلحا لأداء الشهادة … إلى قوله … لاعن[/ar] “Eligible for it (li‘an) is one who is eligible to testify against a Muslim. So whoever accuses his wife, who is chaste from zina, with an explicit word of zina in Dar al-Islam, and both of them are fit to give testimony…

Source: Fatawa Mahmudiyya

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