What is the ruling on the crime of rape in Islam?

[Ansar Al-'Adl]

Hi Eric,

Thank you for your detailed explanation as to how the Islamic law works in regards to rape and adultery. Did you read the other thread started by anonymous to do with sexual abuse, like the western society abuse is very prevalent within families as a number of people testified on that thread? They mostly said that the abuser got away because none of the victims reported the crime.

Yes, I did read most of the thread. A few points could be mentioned here:

1. First of all, it should be clear that this is not an issue with the Islamic penal system. My intention in this thread was to refute claims that the Islamic penal system was defective or barbaric, and I did so by providing a detailed examination of the system itself. This issue is certainly relevant, but it is an issue every system must deal with.

2. This issue actually helps us to appreciate the comprehensive nature of the Islamic system, specifically the strict guidelines Islam has placed between opposite gender interactions. Islam does not permit a woman to be alone anywhere with a man who is not her husband, father or brother. Some people criticize Islam's strict guidelines especially in the case of extended family members like cousins, yet we have seen that quite a large number of these assaults occured at the hands of male cousins. None of these cases would have happened if Islamic guidelines were in place (see here for details on these guidelines). Islam does not allow a male and female to be alone together, even if they are cousins. The women are protected in Islam from such kinds of abuse.

3. Another common form of assault, especially in the western, is known as 'date rape'. Let us consider some statistics from the US:

Here are some rape statistics within the U.S.

General Rape Statistics
Every 2 minutes a woman is raped in the U.S.
72 of every 100,000 women are raped in the U.S. each year.
28% of women are raped by boyfriends.
35% of women are raped by acquaintances.
5% of women are raped by relatives.
Less than one third of all rapes are reported to the authorities.

Rape Situation Statistics
25% of rapes take place in a parking garage or public area.
68% of rapes occur between 6 p.m. and 6 a.m.
More than 45% of rapists were under the influence of drugs or alcohol.
Rapists used a weapon in 29% of all rapes.
The victim received external injuries in over 47% of all rapes.

Youth Rape Statistics
15% of rape victims are under the age of 12 (another source said as high as 22%).
29% of rape victims are between the ages of 12 and 17.
44% of rape victims are under the age of 18 (another source said as high as 54%).
80% of rape victims are under the age of 30.

College Rape Statistics
25% of college women have been victims of rape.
8.5% of college men admit to sexually abusing women - but don't consider that rape.
Of the women who were raped, only 25% described it as rape.
Of the women who were raped, only 10% reported the assault.
47% of the rapes were by dates and romantic acquaintances.

Date Rape Statistics
84% of women who were date raped knew their attacker.
Women who are 16-24 are more than four times as likely to be date raped.
90% of date rapes occur when either the victim or attacker was drinking.
33% of men said they would date rape someone if it could go undetected.
44% of women who were date raped have considered suicide.

Sources include RAINN, University of South Florida, Federal Bureau of Investigation (Uniform Crime Statistics, 1996), U.S. Department of Justice, Violence against Women (Bureau of Justice Statistics, U.S. Dept. of Justice, 1994)

I've highlighted some of the key parts. Here we find that a large portion of rape incidents occur from boyfriends or 'acquaintences', which would not be permitted under Islamic guidelines which only allows relations after marriage. Also, the influence of drugs and alcohol in such incidents is clear, allowing us to also appreciate islam's prohibition of drugs and alcohol. Traditionally, Muslims have always had seperate schooling for boys and girls which would remove all the incidents that are reported as a result of the promiscous college lifestyle.​

How can we encourage the vulnerable younger females to come forward so they can feel confident about disclosing their experiences. If the victims did come forward in greater numbers this would act as a deterrent for future abusers.

I agree it would serve as a deterrent if more were reported as the statistics mentioned that 33% of men said they would date rape someone if it could go undetected.. As for how we can accomplish this, one of the first ways that comes to mind would be social and education programs which would increase awareness and allow victims to know that they have no share in the guilt.

Umm Bilal,

am i correct in saying its perfectly halal for a man to kill a man who raped his wife?

There is no vigilante justice in Islam. People should report such incidents to the court and allow them to deal with it.

if a woman who was sexually abused talks about it, it lives forever, if she doesnt then it can go and die.

From an Islamic perspective, the collecting of evidence of the women does need to be publicized, in fact traditionally judges visit the women privately rather than having them testify in court.

I hope this helps.

 

[Bittersteel]

some people think honor killings are prescribed in Islam.

 

[Ansar Al-'Adl]

some people think honor killings are prescribed in Islam.

Those people are liars. Here is the fatwa:

Question: I read in the papers something that disturbs me about Islam. I read that a Muslim man in one of the Islamic countries killed his seven-year-old daughter because he suspected her of being raped. He is quoted to have said: "The motive behind the killing was to defend my honor, fame, and dignity." Is this what your religion teaches?

Answered by Sheikh `Abd al-Wahhâb al-Turayrî, former professor at al-Imâm University in Riyadh

That father is guilty of murder.

The teachings of Islam should be taken from the correct sources – the Qur’ân and the Sunnah of our Prophet (peace be upon him).

There are false practices to be found in some Muslim societies are only but these are alien to the Islamic legal injunctions. Such practices cannot in any way be attributed to Islam. You should know that the Muslim scholars’ objective is to remove these unsavory regional customs and steer Muslim societies towards the true teachings of Islam.

The mistakes of Muslim people should not be attributed to Islam. You know from history that the massacres of the Native Americans and the slavery of Africans should not be attributed to Christianity, even though these atrocities were carried out by beople who called themselves Christians.

The events you have mentioned are unlawful and the one who commits such crimes is a criminal for illegally killing someone.

In Islamic Law, no one can be punished for adultery, man or woman, until it is legally confirmed that he or she did it. In case of this seven-year-old girl, she would never be punished in any case, since she was a minor.

According to Islam, it is not a simple thing to accuse someone of adultery, and even more difficult to punish someone for it. Anyone who falsely accuses someone else of adultery will receive a severe legal punishment of flogging with a whip, as he slandered another person and injured the accused person’s reputation. If this is the punishment for accusing someone else of adultery, then how could it be Islamic that a person can not only accuse someone but also kill that person on the basis of his accusation?

Legal punishments will not be applied on people who were coerced into doing things, such as being raped, neither in this life nor in the Hereafter. It is the duty of the raped victim’s family to request punishment of the rapist and not to punish their poor daughter. In fact, it is the Islamic right of the daughter on her family that they protect her, defend her, and pursue justice on her behalf. (SOURCE)​

 

[ummbilal]

what if the father had killed the rapist?

 

[Bittersteel]

he shoudn't have taken the law into his hands then.

do we have a definite hadith speaking about rapists being executed?

 

[Ansar Al-'Adl]

do we have a definite hadith speaking about rapists being executed?

As mentioned earlier, the punishment for rape has been established, based on what has been prescribed fro zina and hiraabah and the rape is both of these matters.

 

[Mu'maneen]

Excellent information. Jazakum Allah Kher Fe Dunya Wal Akhira.


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[sargon]

So this answers the question of DNA in rape cases, thanks for the information