I wanted to know if rubbing of the covered private parts together without intercourse is zina or not. What is the punishment for it?
I have done this grave mistake. And I feel ashamed of myself. Asking my Almighty for forgiveness. Please tell me specific repentance methods if any?
The following is my understanding of the issue based on Quran and God knows best.
Quran verse 17:32 states that "do not get close to zina". What you describe falls under it as is a sin. The punishment in hereafter for haram actions are up to God. A person might repent to God and God may forgive it. The punishment by society generally only apply if the action has taken place publicly. Otherwise there is not a punishment in this world. Trying to reveal a personal sin that has taken place privately and trying to make it publicly known is itself considered a sin. It is God's intention to allow people opportunity to repent by keeping privately committed sins private.
What you describe does not fall under zina as it does not satisfy the requirement of zina. As such the punishment for zina does not apply even if the action has taken place publicly. There is no explicit punishment mentioned for that. There are verses that generally imply that if a woman may loose some of her rights (until she repent to God) if she commits a public obscenity.
According to Quran, generally for zina the requirement is to have four independent witnesses who have observed the event directly. Otherwise the persons are not even allowed to talk about it, and anyone who does so without there being four witnesses and accuses a woman should be punished as explained in the 24th Sura.
The only exception for the four witness requirement is a husband accusing his own wife in which case the rules are different and again described in the 24th Sura. In that case both husband and wife are required to state oath that they are telling the truth as described in the 24th Sura. If both of them do there is no punishment for the woman (the punishment if she has lied is left to the hereafter).
the Basic rule in islam is , EVERY sexual act between a girl and non-mehram is haram, and it will be one Form of Zina as it Involves sexual pleasure between each other and unlawful touching.
Prophet Muhammad said in one hadith:
The eyes commit Zina, the hands commit Zina and feet commit Zina and the genitals commit Zina." (Musnad Ahmad, Hadith no. 4258)
So the general ruling is, Stay away from Every sexual act, doesnt matter if it actually means Zina or not. as Allah says in Quran
[17:32]And do not come near to adultery, it is a shameful deed and an evil, and opening the road to other evils.
Allah says DO NOT COME NEAR, he does not say Stop from it, dont come near to it. and act of rubbing covered genitals together give enough sexual pleasure that it is Highly likely that it will lead to intercourse, nobody is strong enough to resist that temptation.
Your question is similar to 'is it OK if I only drink wine in an amount that I dont get drunk' - the point is not just where you start, the point is where it will take you. Things like wine, gambeling and sex, are not habits one can control easily - that is why anything leading to their becoming a habit should be controlled in the VERY BEGINNING.
