What is the kaffarah (atonement) for committing perjury by the Quran? How can this sin be forgiven?

Dear Brother / Sister,

Telling lies and committing perjury are regarded among major sins. The Messenger of Allah (pbuh) stated the following in a hadith reported from Hz. Abu Bakr:

“Shall I tell you about the biggest sins?" Then he said, (He repeated this sentence three times.): Associating partners with Allah; disobedience to parents; committing perjury and telling lies.” (Bukhari)

Committing perjury is regarded as one of the major sins. According to the majority of scholars, the atonement (kaffarah) for telling lies and committing perjury is to repent sincerely (tawba nasuha).

A person who commits perjury can only be punished if the right of an innocent person is grabbed, if an innocent person is slandered or if an innocent person is punished unjustly.

For instance, if a person slanders that somebody committed fornication, shari’ah orders three penalties to be applied on end. They are as follows:

1. He will be whipped eighty times.
2. His witnessing will never be accepted.
3. It will be decreed that he is a fasiq.

If it is determined that a person has committed perjury at court, tazir punishment is applied. According to Imam Abu Hanifa, this punishment is applied as follows: He is taken to the mosque where he lives or works and it is announced that “He is a perjurer and people are asked to avoid him.” (Halabi s. 248; Qasani, VI/289)

If a perjurer causes the loss of a person’s wealth due to his false witnessing, he is forced to pay for the loss.

The punishment to be given to perjurers in cases necessitating death or amputating an organ is to pay the blood money for the death or the organ and to apply tazir punishment. For instance, if it is determined in a case of theft that the witnesses perjured after the hand of the thief was amputated, the perjurers are forced to pay the blood money for the hand and pay for the price of the stolen goods. If it is determined in a case of deliberate murder that the witnesses perjured after the convict was executed, the perjurers are forced to pay the blood money; and tazir punishment is applied. Similarly, if a married person is stoned to death (rajm punishment) based on the witnessing of some people and if they turn out to be perjurers, they are given the penalty of slandering for fornication and paying the blood money. (Sarakhsi, XVII/22; Qasani, VI/285; Bilmen, VIII/162)

(Abdurrahman Ceziri, İslam Fıkhı, Şahidin Yükümlülükleri, Asst. Prof. Dr. Murat Şen)

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