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There is a lot of misunderstanding about how the crime of rape is established within an Islamic judicial system. Many people are of the false opinion that four witnesses must see the act of rape in order for a conviction to hold in the courts. They are understandably appalled by the idea that a woman who cannot produce four witnesses to the crime will be unable to bring justice to bear on her attacker. Nothing could be further from the truth.

It is true that the prescribed punishment (hadd) for fornication requires four witnesses in order for that specific punishment to be a sacred duty for the Muslim courts to carry out. However, what it means is that, in the absence of four witnesses, the judge will prescribe a punishment for the perpetrator according to his discretion or according to the country's penal code. He will not be obliged to prescribe the specific prescribed punishment for fornication. In any case, rape is a far more serious matter than fornication and deserves a more severe punishment.