THE TALE OF SARAH

Chapter Twenty

"The woman and the man guilty of adultery or fornication,- flog each of them with a hundred stripes: Let not compassion move you in their case, in a matter prescribed by Allah, if ye believe in Allah and the Last Day: and let a party of the Believers witness their punishment." (Q24:2)

"Ibn  Rushd  observes  that  most scholars  agree  with  applying  the  hadd  penalty  for  zina  to  a  convicted  rapist. This  means  that  the  convict will  receive a  similar punishment for the  offence of  zina, that  is,  being  stoned to death for the  married  (muhsan), or  receiving  100  strokes  of  the  whip  and  deportation  for the unmarried (ghair-muhsan)." Culled from "PUNISHMENT  FOR  RAPE  IN  ISLAMIC  LAW". BY: Dr  Azman  Mohd  Noor.

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Sa'ad's meeting with the chief Imam was set about a week later, because both men had busy schedules. For that week, Sa'ad made sure Hamad didn't go anywhere else apart from work. He didn't even allow him to go to family get-togethers.

Also, he had started taking interest in Sarah's health, since she was officially carrying his grandchild. He met her once and that was very brief. He hadn't been able to bring himself to apologize for being paranoid about her.

Munirah was slowly losing it and she knew it. Sa'ad wasn't there for her always and she hoped AbdulHaseeb would be able to come over for her.

Hamad was still as confused as ever. He couldn't quite lay Hus hand on what step should come next. He performed his five daily salah, every single time with distraction. But what he was clear about was that, he didn't like at all what he had done, and that he was going to drastically reduce the frequency of which he met with his 'friends'.

And as for Sarah, her situation was deteriorating, as expected. Of course, she received medical care, but she needed a whole different kind and then neither Umm Hakeem nor anybody else could see it.

The whole compound was gloomy. The news of Hamad's punishment according to sharia had spread like wildfire. Some of the workers knew what the punishment held, but they kept it to themselves.

Today was Saturday, and it was the day the meeting was scheduled for. Sa'ad had ordered Hamad to stay at home, in case the Imam needed to see him. Sa'ad had made sure he himself was home on time, so as not to waste the Imam's time.

Dressed in a sky blue kaftan and a matching cap, Sa'ad stood behind the hand rail on the edge of the balcony on the last floor. He was waiting to see the Imam's car drive in before proceeding downstairs to welcome him.

The gateman on duty opened the large gate, and a grey colored KIA drove in. The Imam had arrived. He retreated to his and Munirah's room and was met by Munirah standing by the door. Her heart was beating furiously against her chest. She was dead scared of what the punishment will hold.

Of course Sa'ad noticed like he had been doing whenever he was at home in the past few days. He walked up to her and tilted her head up so he could look her in the eye.

"Munirah, I'm going to meet the Imam now. I want you to stay strong okay?" He said softly.

"Sa'ad." She bridged the gap between them and hugged him. Sa'ad rubbed her back soothingly. "What if its a death penalty?" She started sobbing, tears flowing her cheeks.