the path, and he did not strike her (38). This is because it is a doubt, and legal punishments are averted by doubts. There is no difference between coercion by physical compulsion, which is when he overcomes her, and coercion by threats of death or the like. Ahmad stated this clearly regarding a shepherd who was approached by a woman who was thirsty and asked him for water. He said to her: "Submit yourself to me." He [Ahmad] said: "She is under necessity." It has been narrated from Umar ibn al-Khattab, may Allah be pleased with him, that a woman asked a shepherd for water, and he refused to give her any unless she submitted herself to him, so she did. This was raised to Umar, and he said to Ali: "What do you think regarding her?" He said: "She is under necessity." So Umar gave her something and left her (39).

Section: If a man is coerced and then commits adultery, our companions said: "The legal punishment is upon him." Muhammad ibn al-Hasan and Abu Thawr held this same opinion, because sexual intercourse only occurs with erection, and coercion negates it. Therefore, if erection is found, coercion is negated, and the legal punishment is binding upon him, just as if he were coerced into something other than adultery and then committed adultery. Abu Hanifa said: "If the ruler coerces him, there is no punishment upon him, but if someone else coerces him, he is punished as a matter of judicial preference (istihsan)." Al-Shafi'i and Ibn al-Mundhir said: "There is no punishment upon him, due to the generality of the report, and because legal punishments are averted by doubts, and coercion is a doubt, so it prevents the punishment, just as if it were a woman." This is supported by the fact that coercion, when it is through fear or by withholding that without which one's life would be lost, makes the man like the woman; so if the punishment is not binding upon her, it is not binding upon him. Their statement that fear negates erection is not correct, because the fear is regarding the neglect of the act, and the act itself is not feared, so that does not prevent it. This is the soundest of the opinions, if Allah the Almighty wills.

1556 - Issue: He said: (And whoever commits sodomy shall be killed, whether he is a virgin or previously married, in one of the two narrations, while the other is that his ruling is the ruling of the adulterer.)

The scholars of knowledge have reached a consensus on the prohibition of sodomy. Allah the Almighty has condemned it in His Book, criticized those who