A Historical Criticism of the Prophet’s (p.b.u.h.) Meting out Ghadf Punishment in the Efk Incident Based on the Quranic Reports

The efk narrations about Ayesha have come to be known as the manifestation of the efk verse in Sunni resources. However, it has long been questioned why the Prophet (p.b.u.h.), according to the efk narrations about Ayesha, postponed the execution of the punishment until one month later, and after one month, he punished only four individuals, not a group. Since this issue creates doubts about the infallibility of the Prophet (p.b.u.h.), some scholars have suggested that the ghadf verse may have been revealed after the efk verses, and the punishment might have been delayed since the ghadf punishment might have not been legislated. But given that no verdict acts retrospectively, this suggestion cannot solve the problem of the efk narrations about Ayesha. That is, if the obligatory verdict of the ghadf punishment had been revealed one month after the outbreak of efk, the Prophet (p.b.u.h.) should not have punished the accusers who were exempt from punishment due to the lack of legislation. In this paper, another possibility is posed: As is the case in the Quran, the ghadf verse could have been revealed before the efk verse and after the spread of the rumor. In this case, since no Shari’ah rule acts retrospectively, it was not obligatory for the Prophet (p.b.u.h.) to mete out the punishment. The Quranic reports confirm this view as they depict a situation in which the spread of false accusations had reached its peak. If the verdict of the ghadf punishment had been revealed before the rumor had culminated, people could not dare make and spread such a vulgar accusation against the Prophet's wife (p.b.u.h.). Therefore, punishment of four individuals by the Prophet (p.b.u.h.) is an unacceptable, fabricated story contrary to the Quranic reports.