﴿ وَٱلَّذَانِ يَأْتِيَٰنِهَا مِنكُمْ فَـَٔاذُوهُمَا ۖ فَإِن تَابَا وَأَصْلَحَا فَأَعْرِضُوا۟ عَنْهُمَآ ۗ إِنَّ ٱللَّهَ كَانَ تَوَّابًۭا رَّحِيمًا ﴾

“And punish [thus] both of the guilty parties; but if they both repent and mend their ways, leave them alone: for, behold, God is an acceptor of repentance, a dispenser of grace.”

If a man or a woman commits an act considered a sin according to Islamic tenets, he or she will be dealt with in accordance with the rule of law, and not arbitrarily. It is unjust to declare anyone a criminal without fulfilling the legal conditions, nor is there permission to proceed summarily against even a proven criminal. The purpose of punishment is to uphold justice, and justice cannot be upheld through tyranny and injustice. Moreover, if a sinner pleads guilty and reforms himself, it becomes essential to adopt a sympathetic and forgiving attitude towards him. It is not proper to assess anyone on the basis of his past. When God Himself pardons those who sincerely repent, and turns in His benevolence to those who reform and improve, mere mortals have no right to taunt and ridicule former delinquents. One who taunts and ridicules them may yet prove to be a transgressor himself.