This excerpt is taken from the book of Fazilat-ul-Sheikh Abdul Salam Rustami From Denial of Hadith to Denial of Quran.
Twentieth Doubt: The Punishment of Stoning
In this regard, the following objections are raised by the deniers of Hadith:
➊ There is no proof of it in the Holy Quran.
➋ The punishment for every kind of adulterer is one hundred lashes.
➌ Allah Almighty said:
فَإِذَا أُحْصِنَّ فَإِنْ أَتَيْنَ بِفَاحِشَةٍ فَعَلَيْهِنَّ نِصْفُ مَا عَلَى الْمُحْصَنَاتِ مِنَ الْعَذَابِ
"So when they have married, if they commit adultery, then the punishment for them is half that for free women."
Reference: (4-An-Nisa:25)
From this verse, it is understood that the punishment for adultery is only lashes because stoning cannot be half.
➍ From the sermon of Umar (may Allah be pleased with him), it is understood that the verse of stoning was in the Holy Quran, so then where did it go?
➎ It is possible that the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) enforced the punishment of stoning before the revelation of Surah An-Nur, and then after the revelation of this Surah, the order of stoning was abrogated.
Answer:
As far as the first doubt is concerned, it is stated that the Holy Quran mentions various punishments related to adultery.
➊ If a person accuses someone of adultery, whether male or female, and then fails to present four eyewitnesses, the punishment for him is the punishment of defamation (Had al-Qadhf), which is whipping. His testimony will never be considered credible.
Reference: See: Surah An-Nur 24:4
➋ If a husband accuses his wife of adultery and then fails to present witnesses, they will undergo the process of Li'an (mutual cursing).
Reference: See: Surah An-Nur 24:6
➌ If a woman commits adultery and four witnesses testify against her, then her punishment is that she should be confined at home and await a detailed punishment.
Reference: See: Surah An-Nisa 4:5
Note that Surah An-Nisa was revealed at various times from after the Battle of Uhud until the end of the 4th year of Hijra.
➍ If a slave or slave woman commits adultery and they are married, their punishment is fifty lashes.
Reference: See: Surah An-Nisa 4:25
➎ If a free man and a free woman commit adultery and they are unmarried, their punishment is one hundred lashes.
Reference: See: Surah An-Nur 24:2
These five types are explicitly mentioned in various verses of the Holy Quran.
➏ If a free man and a free woman commit adultery and they are married, their punishment is stoning to death (Rajm), and this is alluded to in the Holy Quran, meaning it is mentioned in the Torah. The Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) implemented this punishment, and Allah did not reprimand His Prophet for it. This incident is mentioned in Surah Al-Ma'idah (5:41-43). The following verse is also among these verses:
إِنْ أُوتِيتُمْ هَٰذَا فَخُذُوهُ وَإِن لَّمْ تُؤْتَوْهُ فَاحْذَرُوا
"If you are commanded to do so, then carry it out; but if you are not commanded, then avoid it."
Reference: (5-Al-Ma'idah:41)
هٰذا This refers to the ruling that they had altered and issued on their own that the punishment for a married adulterer was to blacken his face and make him ride a donkey backward. But Abdullah bin Salam (may Allah be pleased with him), who was previously a great Jewish scholar, said: O Messenger of Allah! Ask them for the Torah. When the Torah was brought, a Jewish scholar placed his hand on the verse of Rajm and began reading the preceding and following text. Abdullah bin Salam (may Allah be pleased with him) told him to remove his hand. When he removed his hand, the verse of Rajm was indeed present. Therefore, the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) ordered the stoning of both of them. Ibn Umar (may Allah be pleased with them) narrates that they were stoned near Balat (a place in Medina).
Reference: Sahih al-Bukhari, Al-Muharibin, Chapter on Rajm at Balat, Hadith: 6819, and Sahih Muslim, Hudud, Chapter on Rajm of Jews, People of Dhimmah, in adultery, Hadith: 1699
When there is a clear indication of this incident in the Quranic verse and Allah did not reprimand the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) regarding this ruling, it becomes clear that this ruling by the Prophet (peace be upon him) based on the Torah is also from the Quran. Therefore, it is correct to say that the punishment of Rajm is established from these Quranic verses (Al-Ma'idah:41-43), and the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) and the Rightly Guided Caliphs implemented this ruling in every era.
◈ Benefit: Imam Bukhari (may Allah have mercy on him) mentioned this hadith in the Book of Al-Muharibin to show that those who commit adultery while married are included in the list of enemies (Muharibin), and the punishment for the Muharibin includes killing them. Therefore, stoning adulterers is also established from this indication in the Holy Quran.
Objection No. 2 :
The deniers of Hadith argue from the following verse that it does not include stoning, and they say that this verse applies to both married and unmarried individuals.
الزَّانِيَةُ وَالزَّانِي فَاجْلِدُوا كُلَّ وَاحِدٍ مِّنْهُمَا مِائَةَ جَلْدَةٍ
“The woman who commits adultery and the man who commits adultery—each of them, give them a hundred lashes.”
Reference: (24-An-Nur:2)
Answer :
➊ All commentators and hadith scholars agree that this verse refers to unmarried individuals. The evidence for this is that the mention of marriage for adulterers comes later in verse 3. The purpose is that these are unmarried, and if they want to marry after committing adultery, then the law for them is explained in verse 3.
➋ If both married and unmarried are meant by this verse, it is permissible, but the Quran apparently mentions one punishment that applies to both, i.e., the married person is first to be whipped and then stoned, as proven by some hadiths. On this basis, only one punishment is mentioned in this verse, while the other punishment (stoning) is established by Quranic indications and hadiths, which does not conflict with the Quran.
Doubt Number 3:
Allah Almighty said:
فَإِذَا أُحْصِنَّ فَإِنْ أَتَيْنَ بِفَاحِشَةٍ فَعَلَيْهِنَّ نِصْفُ مَا عَلَى الْمُحْصَنَاتِ مِنَ الْعَذَابِ
"So when these women are married, if they commit immorality, then the punishment for them is half that of free women."
Reference: (4-An-Nisa:25)
From this verse, they want to prove that the punishment of stoning (Rajm) is not applicable in the case of adultery because stoning cannot be halved.
Answer:
It is correct in its place that here half the punishment means fifty lashes and that the punishment of stoning cannot be applied, but one should reflect on the beginning of this verse.
وَمَن لَّمْ يَسْتَطِعْ مِنكُمْ طَوْلًا أَن يَنكِحَ الْمُحْصَنَاتِ
"From among you, whoever cannot afford to marry free believing women."
Reference: (4-An-Nisa:25)
المحصنات refers to a free unmarried woman because usually her dowry and maintenance are higher. Some men do not have the means for this. Then in the second part of the verse نصف ما على المحصنات, the same woman is meant as mentioned at the beginning of the verse, that is, a virgin woman. Thus, when the punishment for adultery with a free unmarried woman is one hundred lashes, then for a slave woman, even if married, the punishment is fifty lashes, meaning the verse has no connection with the proof or disproof of stoning because here الْمُحْصَنَاتِ does not mean a married woman.
Doubt Number 4:
Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) said in his sermon: There was a verse in the Book of Allah regarding stoning which we used to recite and we also acted upon it. And in this sermon it is stated: The ruling of stoning in the Book of Allah is true for the person who commits adultery while being married. The objection of Parwazi is that if this verse existed, then where has it gone?
Reference: Qur'anic Decisions, p. 182
Answer:
The recitation of this verse has been abrogated, but the ruling remains, and abrogation is established from the Holy Quran.
مَا نَنسَخْ مِنْ آيَةٍ أَوْ نُنسِهَا نَأْتِ بِخَيْرٍ مِّنْهَا أَوْ مِثْلِهَا
“Whatever verse We abrogate or cause to be forgotten, We bring a better one or similar to it.”
Reference: (2-Al-Baqarah:106)
There is no space here to explain the details of abrogator and abrogated, so we will overlook it.
Also, it is stated:
سَنُقْرِئُكَ فَلَا تَنسَىٰ ﴿٦﴾ إِلَّا مَا شَاءَ اللَّهُ ۚ إِنَّهُ يَعْلَمُ الْجَهْرَ وَمَا يَخْفَىٰ ﴿٧﴾
“Soon We will make you recite [the Quran] so you will not forget it, except what Allah should will. Indeed, He knows what is declared and what is hidden.”
Reference: (87-Al-A'la:6-7)
In this verse, a type of abrogation from ما شاء is meant. Yes, when the verse of stoning was abrogated in recitation, the affirmations of stoning are present in Surah Al-Ma'idah and in mutawatir hadiths, from which literal and practical mutawatir is established.
Doubt Number 5:
Some people are under the misconception that perhaps the punishment mentioned in Surah An-Nur came later and the affirmation of stoning was earlier, therefore the ruling of stoning was abrogated. The answer to this is that Surah An-Nur was revealed in the 6th year of Hijra and its chronological order of revelation is 102, while Surah Al-Ma'idah was revealed after the Treaty of Hudaybiyyah, that is in the 7th year of Hijra, and its chronological order of revelation is 112. Thus, some incidents of stoning occurred after the revelation of Surah An-Nur, for example:
➊ Khalid bin Walid (may Allah be pleased with him) was involved in stoning a person from the Ghamid tribe.
Reference: Sahih Muslim, Hudud, Chapter: Whoever confesses to adultery, Hadith: 1695
And he embraced Islam in the period between the Treaty of Hudaybiyyah and the Conquest of Mecca, both of which events are after Surah An-Nur.
➋ A household servant boy committed adultery with a married woman, then the woman's husband and the boy's father made a financial settlement between themselves. But the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) rejected this settlement and ordered the boy to be whipped and the woman to be stoned. Abu Hurairah (may Allah be pleased with him) himself was present at this incident; he had accepted Islam during the Battle of Khaybar in the 7th year of Hijra and came to Medina, so this incident is also after Surah An-Nur.
Reference: Sahih al-Bukhari, Al-Sulh, Chapter: If they make an unjust settlement, Hadith: 2696, 2695; and Sahih Muslim, Hudud, Chapter: Whoever confesses to adultery, Hadith: 1698, 1697
◈ Note: The question to the deniers of Hadith is that the punishment for a married man and woman is either equal to that of an unmarried person, or a minor discretionary punishment, or stoning. In the first two cases, it is completely unjust to give the same punishment to married and unmarried persons because the crime of a married person is more serious. That is why Islam has prescribed one hundred lashes for the unmarried and stoning for the married. However, Western disbelievers are facilitating all means for immorality and fornication and call these punishments, which are a means to prevent immorality, barbaric punishments. The deniers of Hadith, who are actually tools of the West, also promote such doubts so that immorality becomes widespread among Muslims.
