ABSTRACT

Whether as a religious crime or as an offence in non-religious laws, the issue of adultery appears to be problematic. Islamic law as an example of religious law not only considers adultery as a sinful act but prescribes specific ways of proving it. In the same manner, some national penal laws criminalize adultery as an offence worthy of punishment. This work is a comparative investigation of the prescribed methodologies of proving adultery within a religious and non-religious legal contexts. 

TABLE OF CONTENTS……………………………………………………………xi

CHAPTER ONE

GENERAL INTRODUCTION

1.0.0.INTRODUCTION………………………………………………………………1-3

1.1.0.OBJECTIVE OF STUDY…………………………………………………………3

1.2.0.FOCUS OF STUDY……………………………………………………………...4

1.3.0.SCOPE OF STUDY……………………………………………………………….4

1.4.0.METHODOLOGY……………………………………………………………….5

1.5.0.LITERATURE REVIEW……………………………………………………..5-17

1.6.0.CONCLUSION…………………………………………………………………17

CHAPTER TWO

NATURE AND CONCEPTUAL MEANING OF ADULTERY UNDER THE ISLAMIC LAW

2.0.0. INTRODUCTION……………………………………………………………18-20

2.1.0. CONCEPTUAL MEANING OF ADULTERY UNDER ISLAMIC LAW….20-22

2.2.0. ADULTERY IN THE PRE-ISLAMIC ERA………………………………….22-29

2.3.0. PROOF OF ADULTERY UNDER ISLAMIC LAW…………………………30-40

2.4.0. PUNISHMENT FOR THE OFFENCE OF ADULTERY UNDER ISLAMIC LAW…………………………………………………………….……………41-46

2.4.0. CONCLUSION……………………………………………..…………………46 

CHAPTER THREE 

NATURE AND CONCEPTUAL MEANING OF ADULTERY UNDER SELECTED NATIONAL PENAL LAWS

3.0.0. INTRODUCTION………………………………………………………………...47

3.1.0. CONCEPTUAL MEANING OF ADULTERY UNDER THE SELECTED NATIONAL PENAL LAWS ………………………………………………47-51

3.2.0. PUNISHMENT FOR THE OFFENCE OF ADULTERY UNDERSELECTED NATIONAL PENAL LAWS……………………...........................................51-53

3.3.0. CONTEXTUAL ARGUMENT FOR AND AGAINST THE OFFENCE OF ADULTERY UNDER SELECTED NATIONAL PENAL LAWS…………53-56

3.4.0. CONCLUSION……………………………………………………………………57

CHAPTER FOUR

THE PROOF OFFENCE OF ADULTERY UNDER THE ISLAMIC LAW AND SELECTED NATIONAL PENAL LAWS 

4.0.0. INTRODUCTION………………………………………………………………58

4.1.0. SIMILARITIES BETWEEN ISLAMIC CONCEPT OF ADULTERY AND  ADULTERY UNDER SELECTED NATIONAL PENAL LAWS….…………58

4.2.0. DIFFERENCES BETWEEN ISLAMIC CONCEPT OF ADULTERY AND CONVENTIONAL CONCEPT OF ADULTERY…………………………59-64

4.3.0. CONCLUSION……………………………………………………………………57

CHAPTER FIVE

GENERAL CONCLUSION  

5.0.0. SUMMARY/CONCLUSION………………………………………………….66-67

5.1.0. RECOMMENDATION………………………………………………………68-70