Fath al-Rabbani

Naeem bin Hazzal says: Ma'iz bin Malik was under the guardianship of my father. He committed adultery with a slave woman of the tribe. My father said to him: Go to the Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him) and inform him of what you have done; perhaps the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) will pray for your forgiveness. His intention was that perhaps some way of escape might be found. So Ma'iz went to the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) and said: O Messenger of Allah! I have committed adultery, so carry out the ruling of Allah’s Book upon me. The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) turned away from him. He came to the other side and said: O Messenger of Allah! I have committed adultery, so carry out the ruling of Allah’s Book upon me. (The Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, turned his face away.) He came a third time and said: O Messenger of Allah! I have committed adultery, so carry out the ruling of Allah’s Book upon me. (The Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, turned away.) Then, for the fourth time, he came before the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) and said: O Messenger of Allah! I have committed adultery, so carry out the ruling of Allah’s Book upon me. This time, the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: You have confessed four times, now tell me, with whom did you commit adultery? He said: With such-and-such woman. The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: Did you lie with her? He said: Yes. The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: Did you have intercourse with her? He said: Yes. The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: Did you commit adultery with her? He said: Yes! So the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) ordered that he be stoned to death. He was taken to Harrah, and when the pain of being stoned became severe, he lost control and ran away. Abdullah bin Unais (may Allah be pleased with him) met him ahead, while those stoning him had become exhausted. So Abdullah took a bone from a camel’s leg and struck him with it, and he died. When the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) was informed about his running away, he said: Why did you not leave him? Perhaps he would have repented and Allah would have accepted his repentance. Naeem bin Hazzal narrated from his father that when the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) saw him, he said: O Hazzal! If you had concealed his fault, it would have been better for you than what you did by advising him and treating him as you did.