* This verse makes the husband responsible for procuring four witnesses to establish the accusation. Otherwise, the accused will not be liable to the hadd (i.e. the prescribed punishment). Suppose the available evidence does not fulfil the requirement mentioned above; in that case, it will fall under the category of crimes liable to discretionary punishment (ta‘zir). This principle establishes the guidelines for judges and legal authorities for trial and prosecution. Moreover, the sentence of life imprisonment was later repealed and replaced by the ‘hadd’ punishment.
* It refers to the customs of the former prophets and their righteous communities.
* For details about this translation and the linguistic and legal implications of ‘wadribuhunna’, see appendix.
* Most of the idols worshipped by Arab pagans had female names, e.g. Lat, Manat, ‘Uzza, Na‘ila, etc.