One punished for adultery: other for fornication.
Mu' meneen Brothers and Sisters,
As Salaam Aleikum wa Rahmatullahi wa Barakatuh.
(May Allah's Peace, Mercy and Blessings be upon all of you)
One of our brothers/sisters has asked
this question:
Dear
brother Burhan,
This doesn't not answer the question clearly though. or clear enough. The
bukhari volume set i have says in one hadith the Prophet ordered the women to
be stoned to death and the man to get 100 lashes and be exiled.
Which version of the truth does one believe?
Jazakallah.
(There may be some grammatical and spelling
errors in the above statement. The forum does not change anything from
questions, comments and statements received from our readers for circulation in
confidentiality.)
Answer:
One punished for
adultery: other for fornication
In the name of Allah, We praise Him, seek His
help and ask for His forgiveness. Whoever Allah guides none can misguide,
and whoever He allows to fall astray, none can guide them aright. We bear
witness that there is none worthy of worship but Allah Alone, and we bear
witness that Muhammad (saws) is His slave-servant and the seal of His
Messengers.
Sahih Al-Bukhari Hadith 3.860 Narrated by Abu Huraira and Zaid bin
Khalid Al Juhani
Two bedouins came to the Prophet (saws) and
said, "O Allah's Messenger (saws)! Judge between us according to Allah's
Laws." His opponent got up and said, "He is right. Judge between us
according to Allah's Laws." The bedouin said, "My son was a laborer working for this man, and he committed
illegal sexual intercourse (fornication) with his wife. The people told
me that my son should be stoned to death; so, in lieu of that, I paid a ransom
of one hundred sheep and a slave girl to save my son. Then I asked the learned
scholars who said, ‘Your son has to be lashed one-hundred lashes and has to be
exiled for one year.’ The Prophet (saws) said, "No doubt I will judge
between you according to Allah's Laws. The slave-girl and the sheep are to go
back to you, and your son will get a hundred lashes and one year exile."
He then addressed somebody (Hadrat Unais (r.a.)): "O Unais! Go to the wife of this (man), and if she
confesses to her crime (of adultery), stone her to death." So, Hadrat Unais (r.a.) went and stoned her
to death.
Your
Question: ……This doesn't not answer the question clearly though. or clear
enough. The bukhari volume set i have says in one hadith the Prophet ordered
the women to be stoned to death and the man to get 100 lashes and be exiled.
Allah Says in the Holy Quran Chapter 24 Surah
Noor verse 2:
2 The woman and the man guilty of ‘zina’ (fornication) flog each of
them with a hundred stripes: let not compassion move you in their
case in a matter prescribed by Allah if ye believe in Allah and the Last Day:
and let a party of the believers witness their punishment.
Sahih Al-Bukhari Hadith 8.810 Narrated by Jabir
A man from the tribe of Aslam came to the
Prophet (saws) and confessed that he had committed adultery (illegal sexual
intercourse). The Prophet (saws) turned his face away from him till the man
bore witness against himself four times. The Prophet (saws) said to him,
"Are you mad?" He said "No." The Prophet (saws) asked, "Are you
married?" He said, "Yes."
Then the Prophet (saws) ordered that he be stoned to death, and he was
stoned to death at the Musalla (public gathering place).
The prescribed punishment for the sin of ‘zina’ in Shariah
depends on the marital status of the person convicted of the crime in a court
of Shariah Law:
Respected brother, the laborer who committed the
abomination of ‘zina’ (illegal sexual intercourse) with the wife of the other
person was unmarried and single…..thus the Messenger of Allah (saws) prescribed
the Shariah punishment for ‘fornication’ which is a hundred lashes for the unmarried
man.
Because the woman who committed the abomination of ‘zina’
with the laborer was not single but married, the Messenger of Allah (saws)
prescribed the Shariah punishment for ‘adultery’ which is to stone her to death.
Respected brother in Islam, the difference in the
punishment prescribed by the Messenger of Allah (saws) had absolutely nothing
to do with the difference of the gender or the sex of the guilty parties; but
rather because of the difference of their individual ‘marital’ status! If the woman convicted of ‘zina’ was
unmarried, she too would have received the prescribed punishment for ‘fornication’,
ie. 100 lashes; or if the man convicted of ‘zina’ was married, he too would
have received the prescribed punishment of ‘adultery’, ie. being stoned to
death!
Whatever written of Truth and benefit is only
due to Allah’s Assistance and Guidance, and whatever of error is of me
alone. Allah Alone Knows Best and He is
the Only Source of Strength.
Your brother and
well wisher in Islam,
Burhan
