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Shiavault - a Vault of Shia Islamic Books Greater Sins - Volume 1 Twelfth Greater Sin: Qažaf The twelfth Greater Sin is Qažaf. Qažaf means to wrongfully accuse a chaste Muslim man or chaste Muslim woman of adultery or homosexuality. We have the authority of our Holy Prophet (S), Imam Ja’far as-Sadiq (a.s.), Imam Musa al-Kadhim, Imam ‘Ali ar-Riďa (a.s.) and Imam Muhammad al-Taqi (a.s.) that qazaf is a Greater sin. The Holy Qur’an also speaks of the punishment for this sin.

“Surely those who accuse chaste believing women, unaware (of the evils), are cursed in the world and the hereafter and they shall have a grievous chastisement.

On the day when their tongue and their hands and their feet shall bear witness against them as to what they did.” (Surah an-Nūr 24:23-24) The above verses clarify that those who falsely accuse chaste men or women of adultery are cursed by Allah (S.w.T.) as long as they are alive, and in the hereafter they shall be deprived of His Divine Mercy.

We should maintain our distance from such people on whom the wrath of Allah (S.w.T.) has descended and be very careful not to believe their false accusations. False accusers have to be penalised in this world according to the Islamic law. Once their testimony is proved false, they can never ever testify in a court of Islamic law. Organs of the Inhabitant of Hell Imam Muhammad al-Baqir (a.s.) has said, “The organs and the parts of the body of a true believer shall not testify against him.

But they will testify against the one who, after all, has to burn in Hell.” ^1 The person who accuses anyone falsely of adultery and sodomy belongs to this category. Because his punishment is Hell-fire, his organs, according to the Holy Qur’an shall testify against him.

Penalty for Qažaf : Rejection of Testimony and its Invalidation It is also mentioned in Surah an-Nūr: “And those who accuse free women then do not bring four witnesses, flog them, (giving eighty lashes), and do not admit any evidence from them ever, and these it is that are the transgressors.” (Surah an-Nūr 24:4) Three commands are issued in this ayat regarding one who commits qazaf. The first is that he has to be punished with the Islamic penalty imposed upon him.

The second is that his evidence is never ever to be accepted and the third is that such a person must always be considered as unreliable and a transgressor.