the meaning of zina

The root letters of the word Zina is zain, nun and ya. Of this root, four forms of the word occurred a total of 9 times in the entire Quran; Zina once, Yaznun twice, Zani thrice, and Zaniyatun thrice.

Zani and Zaniyatun occurred three times in Q24 verse 2 and 3; V2 was talking about the punishment for doing Zina, and V3 was talking about who they can marry.

In Q60 V12 and Q25 V68 that Yaznun was mentioned in; in both instances, it was mentioned as a condition of being a slave of Allah as in Q25 V68, or as a condition for pledging allegiance to the prophet pbuh.

In a nutshell, it is only in Q17 V32 that character and meaning was given to the word. Allah said; Wa la taqrabu zina, inahu kana fahishatan wa sa-a sabila – which is translated as ‘and do not come near adultery, it is immoral, and an evil way.’

But our task here is to dig deeper into this word that everyone seems to know but may not fully understand. And to do that, five words in the verse has to be looked into – Taqrabu, Zina, Fahishat, Sa-a and Sabila. Hopefully, we are able to have a full grasp of the word when we are done. InshaAllah.

The root word for Taqrabu is actually Qaf, Ra and Ba; Qarib, the Ta before it is for emphasis. Qarib means for something to be close by, or near, as was used in Q21 V109 where the prophet pbuh was told to reply those that won’t believe that God is One that “…if they turn away, say, I have informed you sufficiently. Although I do not know whether what you are promised is Qarib (near) or Baiyd (far)”.

And from this idea of closeness, it has come to be used for family relations, as seen in Q2 V83 where Allah says, “… and be good to parents, Qurba (relatives), and orphans, and the needy…”

Qarib can also mean to ‘offer’ something, the act of offering; and it can also mean the ‘offering’ itself, what is being offered; as in Q5 V27 wherein Allah says, “And relate to them the true story of Adam’s two sons: when Qaraba (they offered) Qurbana (an offering), and it was accepted from one of them, but it was not accepted from the other…”

Also, what can be inferred from Q5 V27, is that the offering was made with the hope of getting closer to God, but of course, the proximity is not a physical one, but one can say one that is spiritual and psychological. So, Qarib need not be physical in proximity, but can include mental proximity.

Before we go into the next word which is Zina; let’s do a recap of what we think Qarib means.

We’ve been able to deduce that Qarib means being Near, being a Relative, Offering something, and that it can also mean the Offering itself. We’ve also been able to deduce that Qarib goes beyond physical proximity, but that it can manifest itself in different forms.

Now, Zina. The first thing to note before going into the word is the fact that the Quran used different words when referring to sex. Allah could have said ‘do not go near illegal sex’, but instead, in this verse, Gẹ decided to go with Zina.

In Q2 V187, rafath and bashir were used to connote sex. In Q2 V223, fatu was used in place of sex. And words such as Furuj in Q23 V5 has also been used to connote sex or chastity.

The three instances mentioned above paint different pictures in one’s mind: bashir paints a picture of ‘effect on skin’, hopefully, I am able to write something elaborate on this in the future; how this in essence is talking about Cliteracy, you can read for more details on Cliteracy in Islam pending the time I delve into a tafsir on Q2 V187, but for now, let’s bear in mind that Bashir connotes skin, and having an effect on the skin.

In Q2 V223, the picture painted is one that has to do with farming. And so we are to approach our spouse from any direction in so far as it is not against the way ‘God has directed’ us to as seen in V222 of Q2. The use of farming is also a deliberate one if one takes into consideration the fact that you need to wet the earth before and or after planting a seed if you catch my drift, but we should delve into that in the piece I said I will hopefully write in the future in furthering the conversation around Cliteracy in Islam. InshaAllah.

But, here, in Q17 V32, Allah used Zina.

So, now, what is Zina? Zina has been translated to mean fornication and adultery; but how did it come to mean that? You see, Zina in its classical sense means to be in a tight place, or of something to be narrow. In essence, to be in a narrow and tight path; a very narrow and tight alley for example, and it came to be used for illegal sexual intercourse because folks that perpetrated in it tend to choose such remote, narrow or secluded areas where people can’t see them perform the act.

Why would someone who is meant to take a straight road from point A to point B decide to take a narrow and tight path? And what are the experiences of one that takes such a path? For the fellow, it may be that they aren’t interested in getting to point B at all or anymore, or they lost their way due to forgetfulness or being unable to find their map, or that they think this narrow and tight alley might somehow lead them to point B faster, or they just decided to take a short break in the narrow and tight alley.

But little do they know that this path leads nowhere, and I say this because it is mentioned in the verse by Allah immediately; calling it a fahsha which in its classical sense means ‘to cross the line’. So, however one tries to squeeze one’s self through it with the hopes of light at the end, one will soon find that it is a dead end, and the only way to get to point B is to get back on ‘Sabil’, also a word used in the verse.

Another sense one derives from a Narrow And Tight Alley (NATA) is the fact that it is a hidden path. So that any hook up spot no matter how large or small can pass as NATA aka Zina.

But we shouldn’t jump the gun; the picture painted with Zina is that of Place. And it makes sense that it is a Place especially because Qarib means Near, Fahshah means crossing the line, and Sabil means path; we will hopefully get into these words later.

NEARNESS.

So, wa la taqrabu zina is saying not to go near the narrow and tight path; yorubas will say kọrọ – kilon wa lọ kọrọ? The injunction here isn’t to not be in it, but not to go near it, because Gẹ knows that mere going near it is enough to cause one to slip into this narrow and tight place. Also, the sin here includes the ‘going near’, not just the ‘being there’. So, going near sex in any way other than in marriage in whatever form the nearness takes is Zina. That changes everything, right? May Allah forgive us our sins. Amin. I shouldn’t fail to mention that Q25 V68 made Zina itself a sin too.

RELATIVE.

To the second meaning of Qarib which is relative, or those that are close to one. What that means is that; to relate with someone that one can marry in a way that others may think of them as relative – this can be seen as going near Zina. Of course, I’m not saying that we shouldn’t be kind to those we may be able to marry; but in this day and age where there are phrases like ‘friends with benefits’, and everything in between and auxiliary to it, one has to be careful. Treating one that is not one’s relative as relative has a more nuanced meaning; an example would be having sex with someone other than one’s wife will qualify as going Qarib to Zina.

OFFER AND OFFERING.

To offer something one should only offer to one’s spouse to someone who isn’t one’s spouse could be seen as Qarib. Here, emphasis on the act of Offering itself; it need not eventually be offered – so one bringing it forth either by words or action should suffice. And the subsequent side to this offering itself is that, it will qualify as going near the narrow and tight path, if one eventually executed the said Offer, which here, is the Offering.

Question then is, why will someone feel the need to make an offer or offering? One decides to make an offering if one wants Acceptance, if one wants to be Grateful, and or if one wants more of something that is being given, Gratification, being indebted and so on and so forth. One just has to be mindful of how one seeks acceptance, how one shows gratitude, where one seeks gratification and so on.

PROXIMITY

As we’ve seen with the story of the two sons of Adam, the nearness that they sought by offering the sacrifice that they offered wasn’t necessarily to be by God’s side at the moment; but it is one of seeking nearness of psychological and spiritual proximity. So we should be mindful of our intentions for they can build a bridge of proximity that might lead one close to the narrow and tight path.

So, wa la taqrabu zina is not just don’t have sex outside of marriage as we might have been thinking; as we’ve seen, with Allah’s deliberate use of Qarib and Zina; the destination is as unlawful as going near the path that leads to it.

Now to the next word; Fahishat aka Fahsha. Fahsha is generally translated as immorality, immoral conduct and so on; but at its core it means to cross the line, what yorubas will call ikọja’la. Going beyond the line that has been set for one. So that in Q2 V268 where Allah says ‘Satan threatens you with poverty, and urges you to Fahsha…’, understanding that it means crossing the line makes it more relatable. One then sees that all of Satan’s plans is in one way or the other related to making one cross the line drawn by Allah in Gẹs message.

But Allah also said, after having mentioned to not do Zina in Q25 V68, and V69 mentions the punishment, V70 says, ‘except for those who repent, and believe, and do good deeds. These – God will replace their bad deeds with good deeds. God is ever Forgiving and Merciful’. Just an aside, one of the meaning of the word translated to ‘believe’ in V70 is ‘trusts’; so when we repent, we must believe and trust that He has forgiven us, and then proceed to do good deeds. Another insight is the word translated to ‘replace’; badil also means substitute or replace. So those bad deeds will not just disappear, they become good deeds. How Merciful Gẹ is, the most High, the most Merciful. But this promise comes with sincere repentance.

While we are on Fahsha and forgiveness; I would just like to mention the fact that in Q7 V80, prophet Lut pbuh referred to the act that his people were doing as Fahishat. It is sad that today, despite our continuous and unending preaching of forgiveness today for those that commit Zina, and acceptance of their humanity, we do not extend the same gesture to the homosexuals because their ‘line crossing’ is an anathema to one’s culture, tradition or personal idiosyncratic beliefs even though in Q11 V74 Ibrahim pbuh argued and pleaded on behalf of the Homosexuals, and Allah went ahead to praise him for it in the next verse by calling him Haleemun (gentle, forbearing), Awaun (kind, tender-hearted, imploring), and Muneeb (penitent, ever returning); but we are not ready for that conversation. Even Lot was said to have been ‘anxious’ and ‘concerned for them’ in V77 of Q11 when the angels showed up.

Anyway, back to Fahsha; crossing the line need not be morality; just as morality line exists, so can economic line exist, so can ibadah line exist, and so can all the lines and boundaries that Allah has set for us in the Quran and in the Sunnah of the prophet Muhammad pbuh exist.

Now, to the next word Sa-a.

Sa-a is generally translated as evil, bad, wicked, hurt, trouble and the likes, but in its classical sense, it actually means to be imbalanced, and because of the imbalance, there is chaos, deterioration. It is the chaos that erupts from there being an imbalanced environment or place that causes vices to come forth. So when someone does an evil thing or says something unpleasant, one is trying to tip the scale of balance and fairness.

When one takes into consideration the fact that it has been used as an opposite to hasan in Q7 V131 and Q3 V119; hasan, which has ‘balance’ as part of its meaning, one is able to see how sa-a has imbalance at its core.

Now, couple imbalance with Sabil, which is translated as Way; one gets an ‘imbalanced way’. Being an imbalanced way doesn’t remove the vices that is derived from it, in fact, it reinforces it. For what that means is that if one goes on that road, one comes across all those vices and troubles, and depression and anxieties and the likes.

Allah’s words are perfect in their precision. It was amazing to me when I dug deep into Q17 V32 that the imagery of road, path, destination was consistent throughout that verse when understood in the classical arabic sense rather than what English has done to it with translations, and modern Arabic has done to it with linguistic evolution.

So, now, we have an image of not going near a narrow, tight, bumpy, imbalanced road because it would be tantamount to crossing a line drawn by Allah. Isn’t it interesting also that for fornication or adultery to happen; both parties have to meet at a place – whether virtual, physical or mental etc. And I think that’s why the image of Place is embedded in Zina. So that one is reminded when one starts to physically move towards the destination, one is reminded not to stray.

Another observation is that in Q1 V6, Allah referred to Islam as siratol mustaqim, the ‘straight path’; it then makes sense why in all of the instances where Zina was mentioned in the Quran, other than where its punishment and who to marry was mentioned; it was mentioned as one of the things someone who Believes should stay away from. With Zina being a narrow, tight and bumpy detour from the straight path. Q60 V12, Q25 V68, and Q17 V32 are three instances if you want to do a further reading on it.

I hope with this exercise, we can all now see Zina in a different light, and are able to subsequently hold ourselves accountable when we start to stray instead of pointing fingers at those we think have taken the detour even though they might have repented, and Allah may have converted their bad deeds to good deeds. May Allah guide and keep us on siratol mustaqim. Amin.

You can further your understanding of the word ‘taqrabu’ here with rafath: foreplay in the Quran.