He said, a woman went out to pray, and a man met her, wrapped her in his garments, and forced himself upon her. She screamed, and he fled.A man passed by her, and she said, "That man did such and such to me."Then a group of the Muhajirin passed by, and she said, "That man did such and such to me."They went off and seized the man she thought had assaulted her and brought him to her. She said, "Yes, this is him." So they brought him to the Messenger of Allah ﷺ.When he ordered that the man be stoned, the actual assailant stood up and said, "Messenger of Allah, I am the one who did it."He said to her, "Go, for Allah has forgiven you," and he spoke kindly to the accused man.It was said, "Prophet of Allah, will you not stone him?"He replied, "He has repented such a repentance that if the people of Madinah had repented in this manner, it would have been accepted from them."
قال خرجت امرأة إلى الصلاة، فلقيها رجل، فتجللها بثيابه، فقضى حاجته منها، فصاحت، فانطلق. ومر عليها رجل فقالت: إن ذاك الرجل فعل بي كذا وكذا ومرت بعصابة من المهاجرين. فقالت: إن ذاك الرجل فعل بي كذا وكذا. فانطلقوا فأخذوا الرجل الذي ظنت أنه وقع عليها وأتوها. فقالت: نعم هو هذا. فأتوا به رسول الله ﷺ. فلما أمر به ليرجم قام صاحبها الذي وقع عليها. فقال: يا رسول الله! أنا صاحبها فقال لها: اذهبي فقد غفر الله لك وقال للرجل قولا حسنا، فقيل: يا نبي! ألا ترجمه؟ فقال: لقد تاب توبة لو تابها أهل المدينة لقبل منهم.
Reported by Abu Dawud (4379), Tirmidhi (1454), Ahmad (27240), Ibn Jarud in al-Muntaqa (823), and Bayhaqi (8/284–285), all through Simak bin Harb, from Alqama bin Waail, from his father Waail bin Hajar, who narrated it.Tirmidhi said, "Hasan gharib sahih. Alqama bin Waail bin Hajar heard from his father, and he is older than Abdul-Jabbar bin Waail, while Abdul-Jabbar did not hear from his father."I say, it is as he said. Its chain is hasan because of Simak bin Harb, who is hasan al-hadith except in his narration from Ikrima, in which he is inconsistent.In the narration of Abu Dawud and Tirmidhi the words "Stone him" appear, but this is shadhdh (anomalous), and the correct position is that the man was not stoned.Tirmidhi (1453), Ibn Majah (2598), and Ahmad (18872) report, through Hajjaj bin Artah, from Abdul-Jabbar bin Waail, from his father, who said, "A woman was raped in the time of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ, so he set aside the punishment from her and applied it to the man who had violated her." He did not mention that he assigned her a bridal payment.Tirmidhi said, "This is a gharib hadith, and its chain is not connected. This hadith has been narrated by another route as well. I heard Muhammad say that Abdul-Jabbar bin Waail bin Hajar did not hear from his father and did not meet him, it is said that he was born some months after his father's death." Tirmidhi also said, "The practice among the scholars from among the companions of the Prophet ﷺ and others is upon this, that there is no punishment upon the woman who was raped." End of quote.Bukhari said in the chapter on coercion (6949), "Layth said, Nafi told me that Safiya bint Abu Ubayd informed him that a slave belonging to the governor's household slaves violated a young slave girl from the fifth share, forcing himself upon her until he deflowered her. Umar had him flogged with the full punishment and exiled him, but he did not flog the girl, because he had forced her."