Stoning in Islam
Rajm is an Arabic word that means "stoning". It is commonly used to refer to the Hudud punishment wherein an organized group throws stones at a convicted individual until that person dies. Traditionally it is called for in cases of adultery where the criteria for conviction are met. One Muslim view is that stoning is the appropriate punishment for adultery committed by a married man or woman with someone who is not legal to him/her. Another view is that it is applicable to rapists and prostitutes. Other Muslims disagree entirely regarding its legality, arguing that it cannot be found in the Qur'an, and the practice goes against some of its verses, particularly those in the Sura an-Nur.
Overview
In some schools of Islamic law the punishment of stoning has been prescribed for married men and women proven to have committed, such as by confession or four eye-witnesses testify to the act of sexual intercourse. It has no basis in the Qur'an and contradicts Chapter (Surah An-Nur) 24 of that book which requires that the punishment be 100 lashes. persons who accuse a woman of adultery but are not able to bring four witnesses are liable to a punishment of 80 lashes and to be unacceptable as witnesses unless they repent and reform. The testimony of those who accuse their own spouse without any other witnesses may be accepted if they swear by God four times that they are telling the truth with a fifth oath to incur God's condemnation if they be lying. The accused shall be considered innocent if they swear by God four times that the spouse is a liar, again with the fifth oath inviting God's wrath if the spouse be telling the truth.[1]
Rajm is carried out differently depending upon if the subject is female or male. If the subject is female then she is to be buried up to her chest and stoned until dead. If the subject is male then he is buried up to his waist and stoned until dead. [citation needed]
Stoning punishments have been considered or handed down recently in Nigeria and Somalia for the crimes of adultery and sodomy.[2][3]
Quran
The Qur'an (An-Nur 24:2–9) mentions punishment for adultery or fornication but not stoning. Verse 24:4–5 also mentions the conditions for proving the charge.
24:2 The adulteress and the adulterer you shall whip each of them a hundred lashes. Do not be swayed by pity from carrying out God's law, if you truly believe in God and the Last Day. And let a group of believers witness their penalty.
24:3 The adulterer will end up marrying an adulteress or an idol worshiper and the adulteress will end up marrying an adulterer or an idol worshiper. This is prohibited for believers.
24:4 Those who accuse married women of adultery then fail to produce four witnesses, you shall whip them eighty lashes and not accept any testimony from them: they are wicked.
24:5 If they repent afterwards and reform, God is the Forgiver, the Merciful.
24:6 As for those who accuse their own spouses without any other witnesses, then the testimony may be accepted if (that one) swears by GOD four times that they are telling the truth.
24:7 The fifth oath shall be to incur God's condemnation upon him, if he was lying.
24:8 She shall be considered innocent if she swears by God four times that he is a liar.
24:9 The fifth oath shall incur God's wrath upon her if he was telling the truth.
In the Hadith
Among prominent records of the words of the Prophet (ahadith) mentioning stoning is the Hadith of Umar's speech of forbidding Mut'ah and the Hadith of the Verse of Stoning. There are also other ahadith regarding stoning.
The first hadith contradicts the Qur'an and, following the rules of Fiqh, such a hadith, of doubtful origin and in clear opposition to the Qur'an, should be discarded. The principles of Islamic Jurisprudence, particularly that of Shatibi, state that Sunnah (the recorded ways and sayings of the prophet Muhammad) provides either an explanation of or an addition to the Qur'an. If it is an explanation its status is secondary to the Quran. It can only be an addition if it has not been discussed by the Qur'an.[4][5] It is not clear from the second hadith that Muhammad accepted stoning to death after the revelation of the Sura al-Nur quoted above so there is in the first place no real argument from tradition that the death-penalty may legitimately be applied. Further, in the book The Life of Muhammad, Hadhrat Mirza Bashiruddin Mahmood Ahmad says that the Prophet Muhammad said that the laws count only when the acts are manifest (i.e. when are made openly).[6]
A hadith attributed to Ubada b. as-Samit reports:[citation needed]
A hadith attributed to Abu Ishaq Shaibani reports:[citation needed]
Views
There is disagreement among modernist Islamic thinkers as to the applicability of stoning for adultery as, while religious texts often give examples both with and without stoning, the Quran does not prescribe stoning as a punishment for any crime, mentioning only lashing as punishment for adultery. However some schools maintain that the punishment may nevertheless be exacted on the grounds that hadith can establish laws which the Qur'an does not mention.[9]
Javed Ahmad Ghamidi, a Pakistani Islamic scholar, has examined hadith related to Rajm in his book Burhan, which considers the issue of Rajm not having been prescribed in the Qur'an, which has presidence over the Sunnah for Muslims. Ghamidi concludes that the Quranic punishment for adultery in verse [Quran 24:2] does not leave room for any other interpretation[5] but that stoning may be prescribed for someone who rapes or habitually commits fornication as prostitutes do, which then constitutes malfeasance in the land that is punishable according to verses [Quran 5:33].[10] This last is also attributed to Muhammad in following hadith:
Acquire it from me, acquire it from me. The Almighty has revealed the directive about women who habitually commit fornication, about which He had promised to reveal. If such criminals are unmarried or are the unsophisticated youth, then their punishment is a hundred stripes and exile and if they are widowers or are married, then their punishment is a hundred stripes and death by stoning. Sahih Muslim 1690
See also
References
- ^ http://www.submission.info/quran/noframes/ch24.html
- ^ Nigerian scholars promoting Sharia law as support for women's rights. September 13, 2005
- ^ 5th Delay in Nigerian Gay Trial. Two men facing death by stoning for the alleged crime of sodomy .... September 14, 2005
- ^ Imam Shatibi. Al-Muwafiqaat fi Usool al-Sharia, 5(4)
- ^ a b Javed Ahmad Ghamidi, Burhan, Al-Mawrid
- ^ Life of Muhammad, pag. 227
- ^ Kitab Al-Hudud|Book 017, Number 4192
- ^ Kitab Al-Hudud|Book 017, Number 4218
- ^ Probativeness of Sunna [1-3]
- ^ Javed Ahmed Ghamidi, Mizan, The Penal Law of Islam, Al-Mawrid