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I've found the following fatwa which shows rulings for the punishment of rape:

http://islamqa.info/en/158282

I have a question about the following section:

A woman’s claim to have been forced into zina can only be accepted on the basis of proof or strong circumstantial evidence. If there is no such evidence, then the hadd punishment is to be carried out on her as it is carried out on the zaani (the man who committed fornication or adultery).

So it seems that the woman in this case would get punished instead of the man being accused, so the punishment would probably be:

The punishment is one hundred lashes if the man was a virgin and stoning if he was previously married

My question is, what if the woman (who accuses a man) was suffering from some mental disorder such a paranoia/schizophrenia and was convinced that she was raped (even though she wasn't in reality)? Clearly in this case she would never be able to provide any evidence (as the rape only happened in her mind, not in reality).

What would happen if basically no one knew about her paranoia/schizophrenia (where even she doesn't realize that she has a mental disorder)? It sounds as if in such a case, a mentally ill person would get wiped/stoned!!! Is that true? Or would efforts be made before stoning/wiping her to find out if she was sane before resorting to stoning/wiping?

I'm looking for Sunni > Hanafi > Deobandi views if possible.

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  • What you asked was in special case and for special cases as such the ruling could be different also.... i would also like to add that proving if someone raped or not is not a small task and it takes some time to do that the fatwa only tells us what the punishment is not how to bring justice. the female who is mentally disordered will also be put through investigation, then her illness could be found. might i remind you that there can be a case when the woman was actually raped and due to a mental illness such as you described no one believes her.
    – Syed Anas
    Sep 17, 2014 at 10:07
  • @anas, yes, that's very difficult. If the investigator discovered that she was suffering from some mental illness, would the investigator and the islamic courts keep this fact private? If they made this fact public, then we run into the issue you outlined, i.e. if in the future she does end up getting raped, no one will believe her. However, I would assume that the islamic courts would order a fresh investigation, instead of dismissing her claim of rape.?
    – oshirowanen
    Sep 17, 2014 at 10:32
  • investigation will be carried out nevertheless..... the only way the person will get caught is if the evidence is found else all will believe that she was lying maybe due to her illness, the fact that her illness be kept private is hard to say it depends on the situation...
    – Syed Anas
    Sep 17, 2014 at 10:39
  • Could you please make the title a bit more clear and specific to the question by editing it?
    – Bleeding Fingers
    Sep 17, 2014 at 13:58
  • @BleedingFingers, Any suggestions for a more appropriate title? "Convinced that you've been raped when you haven't", or maybe "What if sharia law investigators make a mistake"?
    – oshirowanen
    Sep 18, 2014 at 7:49

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It was narrated from ‘Aa’ishah that the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said: “The Pen has been lifted from three: from the sleeping person until he wakes up, from the minor until he grows up, and from the insane person until he comes to his senses.” Narrated by Abu Dawood (4398), al-Nisaa’i (3432) and Ibn Maajah (2041); classed as saheeh by al-Albaani in Saheeh Abi Dawood.

As seen in here.

You're talking about the rarest of the rare cases which I think you made up.

What would happen if basically no one knew about her paranoia/schizophrenia (where even she doesn't realize that she has a mental disorder)?

The above is the rarest of the rare cases I'm talking about.

Anyways, you answered your question...

Or would efforts be made before stoning/wiping her to find out if she was sane before resorting to stoning/wiping?

Yes

Volume 8, Book 82, Number 806: Narrated Abu Huraira:

A man came to Allah's Apostle while he was in the mosque, and he called him, saying, "O Allah's Apostle! I have committed illegal sexual intercourse.'" The Prophet turned his face to the other side, but that man repeated his statement four times, and after he bore witness against himself four times, the Prophet called him, saying, "Are you mad?" The man said, "No." The Prophet said, "Are you married?" The man said, "Yes." Then the Prophet said, 'Take him away and stone him to death." Jabir bin 'Abdullah said: I was among the ones who participated in stoning him and we stoned him at the Musalla. When the stones troubled him, he fled, but we over took him at Al-Harra and stoned him to death.

I think there are also other Hadith talking about the exact same incidence, where Prophet (pbuh) asked the people surrounding him listening the conversation between Prophet (pbuh) and adulterer, and he asked "is this person mad?" upon that, the surrounding people said "No" he's a fine person.

I'm looking for Sunni > Hanafi > Deobandi views if possible.

I'm giving you the authentic Hadith view.

May the creator guide us all.

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What would happen if basically no one knew about her paranoia/schizophrenia (where even she doesn't realize that she has a mental disorder)? It sounds as if in such a case, a mentally ill person would get wiped/stoned!!! Is that true? Or would efforts be made before stoning/wiping her to find out if she was sane before resorting to stoning/wiping?

If the person is not of sound body and mind; then there are no obligations on her; but rather on her wali (responsible person); just as it would be if it were a minor. I would also imagine in such a case the ruling would be given against the man who took advantage of such a situation.

Islam is not barbaric.

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