Question:
A person had an illicit relationship with his friend’s wife. Now both of them have repented and stopped the relationship out of fear of Allahﷻ. He asks: Is it enough if they seek forgiveness from Allahﷻ, or must they also ask forgiveness from the husband? The husband does not know about it. If they tell him, their lives will be destroyed. If the husband does not forgive, will Allahﷻ not forgive them?
Answer:
Generally, when you wrong someone, you must seek forgiveness from the person whose rights you violated. However, in the case of zina (illicit relationship), Islamic law does not require you to go and confess to the husband. This is because Islam strictly forbids exposing sins that Allahﷻ has concealed.
Both individuals committed the sin. It is between them and Allahﷻ. The husband is considered a third party in terms of disclosure, and Islam forbids revealing sins unnecessarily.
The Prophetﷺ said (Bukhari 669): All of my Ummath (Islamic community) will be forgiven except those who openly publicize their sins. A person may commit a sin at night, and Allahﷻ conceals it. But in the morning, he goes and tells others what he did. Allahﷻ had concealed it, but he exposes it himself. Such a person will not be forgiven.
This means that if Allahﷻ has concealed your sin, you should not expose it to others. So in this case:
- They must sincerely repent to Allahﷻ.
- They must stop the sin completely.
- They must feel genuine regret.
- They must never return to the sin.
They should not go and inform the husband, because revealing it would be exposing a concealed sin and causing greater harm. Their repentance to Allahﷻ is sufficient. Allahﷻ may forgive them if their repentance is sincere.
The Prophetﷺ also took a pledge from his companions not to commit shirk, theft, zina, or other sins. He said whoever fulfils this pledge will have their reward with Allahﷻ. If someone commits a sin and Allahﷻ conceals it, then their matter remains with Allahﷻ — He may forgive or punish as He wills.
Therefore, if they have sincerely repented and Allahﷻ has concealed their sin, they should not expose it. Their repentance to Allahﷻ is sufficient.