surah an Nisa verse 15-25

Translation:

15. And those of your women who commit illegal sexual intercourse, take the evidence of four witnesses from amongst you against them; and if they testify, confine them (i.e. women) to houses until death comes to them or Allah ordains for them some (other) way.
16. And the two persons (man and woman) among you who commit illegal sexual intercourse, punish them both. And if they repent (promise Allah that they will never repeat, i.e. commit illegal sexual intercourse and other similar sins) and do righteous good deeds, leave them alone. Surely, Allah is Ever the One Who accepts repentance, (and He is) Most Merciful.
17. Allah accepts only the repentance of those who do evil in ignorance and foolishness and repent soon afterwards; it is they to whom Allah will forgive and Allah is Ever All-Knower, All-Wise.
18. And of no effect is the repentance of those who continue to do evil deeds until death faces one of them and he says: "Now I repent;" nor of those who die while they are disbelievers. For them We have prepared a painful torment.
19. O you who believe! You are forbidden to inherit women against their will, and you should not treat them with harshness, that you may take away part of the Mahr you have given them, unless they commit open illegal sexual intercourse. And live with them honourably. If you dislike them, it may be that you dislike a thing and Allah brings through it a great deal of good.
20. But if you intend to replace a wife by another and you have given one of them a Cantar (of gold i.e. a great amount) as Mahr, take not the least bit of it back; would you take it wrongfully without a right and (with) a manifest sin?
21. And how could you take it (back) while you have gone in unto each other, and they have taken from you a firm and strong covenant?
22. And marry not women whom your fathers married, except what has already passed; indeed it was shameful and most hateful, and an evil way.
23. Forbidden to you (for marriage) are: your mothers, your daughters, your sisters, your father's sisters, your mother's sisters, your brother's daughters, your sister's daughters, your foster mother who gave you suck, your foster milk suckling sisters, your wives' mothers, your step daughters under your guardianship, born of your wives to whom you have gone in - but there is no sin on you if you have not gone in them (to marry their daughters), - the wives of your sons who (spring) from your own loins, and two sisters in wedlock at the same time, except for what has already passed; verily, Allah is Oft-Forgiving, Most Merciful.
24. Also (forbidden are) women already married, except those (captives and slaves) whom your right hands possess. Thus has Allah ordained for you. All others are lawful, provided you seek (them in marriage) with Mahr (bridal money given by the husband to his wife at the time of marriage) from your property, desiring chastity, not committing illegal sexual intercourse, so with those of whom you have enjoyed sexual relations, give them their Mahr as prescribed; but if after a Mahr is prescribed, you agree mutually (to give more), there is no sin on you. Surely, Allah is Ever All-Knowing, All-Wise.
25. And whoever of you have not the means wherewith to wed free, believing women, they may wed believing girls from among those (captives and slaves) whom your right hands possess, and Allah has full knowledge about your Faith, you are one from another. Wed them with the permission of their own folk (guardians, Auliya' or masters) and give them their Mahr according to what is reasonable; they (the above said captive and slave-girls) should be chaste, not adulterous, nor taking boy-friends. And after they have been taken in wedlock, if they commit illegal sexual intercourse, their punishment is half that for free (unmarried) women. This is for him among you who is afraid of being harmed in his religion or in his body; but it is better for you that you practise self-restraint, and Allah is Oft-Forgiving, Most Merciful.

Explanation:

If Muslim women are involved in shameful acts (Zinah)  then their guardians should find 4 Muslim witnesses (4 reliable, sensible, mature and free men) who have seen the act with their own eyes. And if the witnesses testify to the act done by the woman then she should be locked up in the house until she dies or until Allah opens another path for her. In Surah Noor verse 2, this commandment is taken a step forward (since every commandment of Allah came in gradual stages rather than all at once) after which the earlier commandment is no longer valid.
VERSE 2 SURAH NOOR:
“The woman and the man guilty of illegal sexual intercourse, flog each of them with a hundred stripes. Let not pity withhold you in their case, in a punishment prescribed by Allah, if you believe in Allah and the Last Day. And let a party of the believers witness their punishment. (This punishment is for unmarried persons guilty of the above crime but if married persons commit it, the punishment is to stone them to death, according to Allah's Law).”
If a man and woman are caught in a shameful act then both of them should be punished. But if they repent (before being caught) and correct their mistake and vow never to indulge in such acts again then let them be and do not punish them because Allah is very Merciful and He accepts sincere repentance. Whoever commits wrong deeds because of their foolishness or lack of knowledge and then repents soon after, then Allah accepts their repentance. Those who keep doing wrong deeds till the time of death and then as death approaches they repent, such repentance is not accepted nor is the repentance of those who die as disbelievers. For such people there is severe torment in the Hereafter. Repentance that has the following characteristics is accepted:

·         Repentance done out of fear of Allah only

·         Repentance with shame at what one has done

·         Repentance with a vow to never repeat that wrong doing again.

Four types of people:

·         Those who repent immediately

·         Those who keep delaying the repentance

·         Those who repent at the time of death

·         And those who die before repentance

During the days of ignorance, women and orphans were also distributed like the inheritance of wealth of property. For instance if a man died leaving behind his widow then his male children would take their step mother as part of their inheritance either through Nikah or any other means. This verse strongly prohibits such doings and commands men to treat women respectfully and with kindness and to not take back the mehr they had given her at the time of nikah. Men cannot force their wives to return the mehr they gave neither can they forcefully devour her wealth and property. If the wife commits shameful acts with other men only then is the husband allowed to take back the mehr he gave her. Men are being told to spend their lives peacefully and honorably with their wives and if for some reason they don’t like their wife then they are being told to be patient because it is possible that through that same wife Allah may be bestowing a lot of good on him and Allah knows what is best for His creation. So try to focus on the good points of your wife rather than emphasizing on what you don’t like about her. And if the man intends to marry another woman and divorce his first wife then he is not allowed to take back the meher, gifts and any other wealth he may have given her(this mehr may be of a huge amount signifying that there is no limit on the amount of mehr to be given to the wife). That would not only be unjust and unfair but a major sin as well. After the contract of nikah, as a result of which there is a strong promise and bond between the husband and wife, the men cannot take back whatever they gave their wives.
Men cannot marry the wives of their father (father here refers to paternal and maternal grandfather as well). and do not justify this wrong doing by recalling the past( this practice of marrying the wives of the father was observed in the days of ignorance) because they were shameful deeds and should not be repeated in the future.
Men are also forbidden to marry their birth mothers (include maternal and paternal grandmothers as well)and also the mothers who fed them their milk,  daughters (include granddaughters as well), step sisters and blood sisters, aunts, nieces, mother in law and step daughters. If the husband divorces his wife before they have had any sort of marital relation (in today’s time it would mean divorce after nikah but before the ‘rukhsati’) then it is permissible for the man to marry that woman’s daughter. But if they have had a marital relation then that woman’s daughter is forbidden for the man. The wives of the son are forbidden for the man and two sisters being married to the same man at the same time is also forbidden. However, it is permissible for the man to marry the sister of his first wife only if he divorces the first one or she dies.
Men are forbidden to wed already married women unless they get divorced or their husband dies in which case they are allowed to marry another man after fulfilling their grievance period. However, this does not apply to captives and slaves because as soon as women are taken prisoners their previous nikah becomes void thus, making it permissible for men to marry these slave and prisoner women. All other women are permissible and Halaal for men to marry given that they are given Mehr at the time of nikah with the intention of a chaste marriage. This ayat hence speaks against prostitution and forbids it strongly. And after deciding on the mehr, if by mutual agreement between the wife and husband a change is brought about in the amount of mehr then it’s permissible, given than mutual agreement exists.
It is permissible for a man to marry a slave or a prisoner girl in the following circumstances:

·         He is unable to give mehr to a free,reputable woman (the mehr of a slave girl will be less than that of a free woman)

·         The men fears that if he does not get married soon then he might be inclined towards haraam (illegal and illicit relations with women).

But even in either of these two scenarios the condition is that the slave girl he marries should be a believer (Momin). Towards the end of the verse Allah says that even though it’s permissible but still it is better to be patient and wait for the time when the man can pay the mehr for a free woman rather than marry a slave girl. And if after marrying them, they (slave girl) commits shameful acts then their punishment is half that of free unmarried women which is being whipped with 100 stripes. So for the married slave girls the punishment becomes 50 stripes.