No Rajm for the Insane in Islam
By: Imrān Ayyūb Lāhorī
❖ Evidence
Abū Hurayrah (RA):
A man came to the Prophet ﷺ in the mosque and confessed four times that he had committed zinā.
The Prophet ﷺ summoned him and asked:
“Abika junūn?”
“Are you insane?”
He replied: “No.”
Then the Prophet ﷺ said:
“Go and stone him.”
[al-Bukhārī: 6815, Kitāb al-Ḥudūd: Bāb Lā Yurḥam al-Majnūn wa al-Majnūnah]
Conclusion
- The Prophet ﷺ inquired about the man’s sanity before enforcing rajm.
- This establishes that if a person is insane, the punishment of rajm is not applied, since legal responsibility requires sanity.
