Title: Regarding Stoning of a Married Adulterer Question: From what I have gleaned, on the issue of punishment of fornication, by the writings on your site as well as by others who have refuted the idea of a separate punishment for married fornicators, it appears that the main thread of the argument runs against a few "objectionable" narratives ascribed to the prophet (sws). I would agree that the narratives, such as those mentioning the words of Umar (ra) (4194, Sahih Muslim) and some in Muatta that even go to the extent of mentioning the referred verses which were supposedly taken out of the Quran, are clearly against the Quran and cannot be accepted but there is a multitude of narratives that specifically mention that the punishment of stoning, as implemented by the Prophet (sws), was a direct consequence of the fornicator's confession of being married. In other words, the raison detre of this punishment is marriage and not Fasad-e-filard (crime against humanity). I would quote: Abu Huraira reported that a person from amongst the Muslims came to Allah's Messenger (may peace be upon him) while he was in the mosque. He called him saying: Allah's Messenger. I have committed adultery. He (the Holy Prophet) turned away from him, He (again) came round facing him and said to him: Allah's Messenger, I have committed adultery. He (the Holy Prophet) turned away until he did that four times, and as he testified four times against his own self, Allah's Messenger (may peace be upon him) called him and said: Are you mad? He said: No. He (again) said: Are you married? He said: Yes. Thereupon Allah's Messenger (may peace be upon him) said : Take him and stone him. Ibn Shihab (one of the narrators) said: One who had heard Jabir b. 'Abdullah saying this informed me thus: I was one of those who stoned him. We stoned him at the place of prayer (either that of 'Id or a funeral). When the stones hurt him, he ran away. We caught him in the Harra and stoned him (to death). This hadith has been narrated through another chain of transmitters. (Book 17, Number 4196) Another narrative goes: Sulaiman b. Buraida reported on the authority of his father that Ma,iz b. Malik came to Allah's Apostle (may peace be upon him) and said to him : Messenger of Allah, purify me, whereupon he said: Woe be upon you, go back, ask forgiveness of Allah and turn to Him in repentance. He (the narrator) said that he went back not far, then came and said: Allah's Messenger, purify me. whereupon Allah's Messenger (may peace be upon him) said: Woe be upon you, go back and ask forgiveness of Allah and turn to Him in repentance. He (the narrator) said that he went back not far, when he came and said: Allah's Messenger, purify me. Allah's Apostle (may peace be upon him) said as he had said before. When it was the fourth time, Allah's Messenger (may, peace be upon him) said: From what am I to purify you? He said: From adultery, Allah's Messenger (may peace be upon him) asked if he had been mad. He was informed that he was not mad. He said: Has he drunk wine? A person stood up and smelt his breath but noticed no smell of wine. Thereupon Allah's Messenger (may peace be upon him) said: Have you committed adultery? He said: Yes. He made pronouncement about him and he was stoned to death. The people had been (divided) into two groups about him (Ma'iz). One of them said : He has been undone for his sins had encompassed him, whereas another said : There is no repentance more excellent than the repentance of Ma'iz, for he came to Allah's Apostle (may peace be upon him) and placing his hand in his (in the Holy Prophet's) hand said: Kill me with stones. (This controversy about Ma'iz) remained for two or three days. Then came Allah's Messenger (may peace be upon him) to them (his Companions) as they were sitting. He greeted them with salutation and then sat down and said: Ask forgiveness for Ma'iz b. Malik. They said : May Allah forgive Ma'iz b. Malik. Thereupon Allah's Messenger (may peace be upon him) said : He (Ma'iz) has made such a repentance that if that were to be divided among a people, it would have been enough for all of d, a branch of Azd, came to him and said: Messenger of of Allah, purify me, whereupon he said : Woe be upon you ; go back and beg forgiveness from Allah and turn to Him in repentance. She said : I find that you intend to send me back as you sent back Ma'iz. b. Malik. He (the Holy, Prophet) said : What has happened to you ? She said that she had become pregnant as a result of fornication. He (the Holy Prophet) said : Is it you (who has done that) ? She said : Yes. He (the Holy Prophet) said to her : (You will not be punished) until you deliver what is there in your womb. One of the Ansar became responsible for her until she was delivered (of the child). He (that Ansari) came to Allah's Apostle (may peace be upon him) and said the woman of Ghamid has given birth to a child. He (the Holy Prophet) said : In that case we shall not stone her and so leave her infant with none to suckle him. One of the Ansar got up and said : Allah's Apostle, let the responsibility of his suckling be upon me. She was then stoned to death. (Book 17, Number 4205) Abu Huraira and Zaid b Khalid al-Juhani reported that one of the desert tribes came to Allah's Messenger (may peace be upon him) and said: Messenger of Allah, I beg of you in the name of Allah that you pronounce judgment about me according to the Book of Allah. The second claimant who was wiser than him said: Well, decide amongst us according to the Book of Allah, but permit me (to say something). Thereupon Allah's Messenger (may peace be upon ham) said: Say. He said: My son was a servant in the house of this person and he committed adultery with his wife. I was informed that my son deserved stoning to death (as punishment for this offence). I gave one hundred goats and a slave girl as ransom for this. I asked the scholars (if this could serve as an expiation for this offence). They informed me that my son deserved one hundred lathes and exile for one year. and this woman deserved stoning (as she was married). Thereupon Allah's Messenger (may peace he upon him) said: By Him in Whose Hand is my life. I will decide between you according to the Book of Allah. The slave-girl and the goats should be given back, and your son is to be punished with one hundred lashes and exile for one year. And, O Unais (b. Zuhaq al-Aslami), go to this woman in the morning, and if she makes a confession, then stone her. He (the narrator) said: He went to her in the morning and she made a confession. And Allah's Messenger (may peace be upon him) made pronouncement about her and she was stoned to death. (Book 17, Number 4209) On the basis of these narratives, one cannot ignore the fact that it was the quality of being married that entailed this punishment. This cannot necessarily be termed as "altering the directive of the Quran" and can be taken to mean the appropriate implementation of this directive by the prophet (sws) especially in the light of old scriptures. Your comments would be highly appreciated. Regards, Razi Allah Answer: I agree that if the Muslims were to draft their laws in the light of the Old Scriptures, the punishment of adultery, in all probability would have been that of stoning to death. Nevertheless, this cannot be the case, if the laws are to be derived from the Qur'an. The Arabic word " Zaniy " (i.e. fornicator) does not, in any way, relate to the marital status of the perpetrator. A married person guilty of the crime would be termed a "Zaniy" , as much as an unmarried person. In view of this fact, the Qur'anic law for a person guilty of the crime should be subjected to the punishment of one-hundred flogs, irrespective of his marital status. Any distinction made on the basis of the marital status of the perpetrator would, therefore, clearly be against the directive of the Qur'an. You may also note that your second cited narrative does not entail anything to even suggest that the perpetrator was married and was subjected to the punishment because of his specific marital status. Furthermore, your third cited narrative implies that the woman was to be subjected to stoning to death because she was married, while the man was to be subjected to one-hundred lashes and exile because he was unmarried. Neither of the two - the married or the unmarried - were subjected to the punishment given in the Qur'an. Now, if we were to derive any laws from this narrative, the punishment of Zinaa for a married person would be stoning to death, while that of an unmarried person would be one-hundred flogs and exile from the land. Who is it, then, whose punishment is mentioned in the Qur'an, as one-hundred lashes? Would we have to make a third category of those guilty of Zinaa ? The fact is that the interpretation of the incidents of stoning to death as being related to the marital status of the perpetrator is as much against the Qur'an as the narratives, which insinuate that a related verse was taken out of the Qur'an. It should be kept in mind that the reported incidents were not recorded as official court proceedings would be recorded in the present times. These are all reports of common people, who could so easily have misinterpreted the whole incident and subsequently reported it as such [1] . It is, therefore, imperative that these narratives should be seen and interpreted in the light of the directives of the Qur'an, rather than vice versa. I hope this helps. Regards, Moiz Amjad March 8, 2002 [1] A glaring example of this fact can be seen even in the two cited narratives of the first incident: According to the first cited narrative, the person was asked the question: "Are you married?", while in the second cited narrative of the same incident, the Prophet (pbuh) did not even ask about the person's marital status.