And when two of you read wa’lladhāni or wa’lladhānni men commit it that is a lewd act adultery or homosexual intercourse punish them both with insults and beatings with sandals; but if they repent of this lewd act and make amends through good action then leave them be and do not harm them. God ever turns relenting to those who repent and is Merciful to them. This verse is abrogated by the prescribed punishment if adultery is meant by the lewd act and similarly if homosexual intercourse is meant according to al-Shāfi‘ī; but according to him the person who is the object of the penetrative act is not stoned even if he be married; rather he is flogged and banished. Judging by the dual person pronoun it seems more obvious that homosexual fornication is meant by this verse even though the former sc. al-Shāfi‘ī was of the opinion that it referred to an adulterer and an adulteress; but this opinion of his may be countered by the fact that the reference to the two men becomes clear on account of the particle min being attached to a masculine pronoun minkum ‘of you’ and by the fact that they suffer the same punishment both effect the action of repentance and are both granted that they be left alone thereafter all of which applies specifically to men given that for women detention is stipulated as was stated before.
