The people passed by the Messenger of Allah (saws) with a Jew who was blackened with charcoal and who was being flogged.

He called them and said: Is this the prescribed punishment for a fornicator?

They said: Yes. He then called on a learned man among them and asked him: I adjure you by Allah Who revealed the Torah to Moses, do you find this prescribed punishment for a fornicator in your divine Book?

He said: By Allah, no. If you had not adjured me about this, I should not have informed you. We find stoning to be prescribed punishment for a fornicator in our Divine Book. But it (fornication) became frequent in our people of rank; so when we seized a person of rank, we left him alone, and when we seized a weak person, we inflicted the prescribed punishment on him. So we said: Come, let us agree on something which may be enforced equally on people of higher and lower rank. So we agreed to blacken the face of a criminal with charcoal, and flog him, and we abandoned stoning.

The Messenger of Allah (saws) then said: O Allah, I am the first to give life to Thy command which they have killed. So he commanded regarding him (the Jew) and he was stoned to death.

Allah Most High then sent down: "O Apostle, let not those who race one another into unbelief, make thee grieve..." up to "They say: If you are given this, take it, but if not, beware!...." up to "And if any do fail to judge by (the light of) what Allah hath revealed, they are (no better than) unbelievers," about Jews, up to "And if any do fail to judge by (the right of) what Allah hath revealed, they are no better than) wrong-doers" about Jews: and revealed the verses up to "And if any do fail to judge by (the light of) what Allah hath revealed, they are (no better than) those who rebel." About this he said: This whole verse was revealed about the infidels.

AbuUmamah ibn Sahl ibn Hunayf said that some companions of the Messenger of Allah (saws) told that one of their men suffered so much from some illness that he pined away until he was skin and bone (i.e. only a skeleton). A slave-girl of someone visited him, and he was cheered by her and had unlawful intercourse with her. When his people came to visit the patient, he told them about it.

He said: Ask the Messenger of Allah (saws) about the legal verdict for me, for I have had unlawful intercourse with a slave-girl who visited me.

So they mentioned it to the Messenger of Allah (saws) saying: We have never seen anyone (so weak) from illness as he is. If we bring him to you, his bones will disintegrate. He is only skin and bone. So the Messenger of Allah (saws) commanded them to take one hundred twigs and strike him once.

Malik related to me from Nafi that Abdullah ibn Umar said, "The Jews came to the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, and mentioned to him that a man and woman from among them had committed adultery. The Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, asked them, 'What do you find in the Torah about stoning?' They said, 'We make their wrong action known and flog them.' Abdullah ibn Salam said, 'You have lied! It has stoning for it, so bring the Torah.' They spread it out and one of them placed his hand over the ayat of stoning. Then he read what was before it and what was after it. Abdullah ibn Salam told him to lift his hand. He lifted his hand and there was the ayat of stoning. They said, 'He has spoken the truth, Muhammad. The ayat of stoning is in it.' So the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, gave the order and they were stoned . "

Abdullah ibn Umar added, "I saw the man leaning over the woman to protect her from the stones."

Malik commented, "By leaning he meant throwing himself over her so that the stones fell on him."

The Jews brought to the Prophet a man and a woman from among them who had committed illegal sexual intercourse. The Prophet said to them, "How do you usually punish the one amongst you who has committed illegal sexual intercourse?" They replied, "We blacken their faces with coal and beat them," He said, "Don't you find the order of Ar-Rajm (i.e. stoning to death) in the Torah?" They replied, "We do not find anything in it." `Abdullah bin Salam (after hearing this conversation) said to them. "You have told a lie! Bring here the Torah and recite it if you are truthful." (So the Jews brought the Torah). And the religious teacher who was teaching it to them, put his hand over the Verse of Ar- Rajm and started reading what was written above and below the place hidden with his hand, but he did not read the Verse of Ar-Rajm. `Abdullah bin Salam removed his (i.e. the teacher's) hand from the Verse of Ar-Rajm and said, "What is this?" So when the Jews saw that Verse, they said, "This is the Verse of Ar-Rajm." So the Prophet ordered the two adulterers to be stoned to death, and they were stoned to death near the place where biers used to be placed near the Mosque. I saw her companion (i.e. the adulterer) bowing over her so as to protect her from the stones.

`Umar said, "I am afraid that after a long time has passed, people may say, "We do not find the Verses of the Rajam (stoning to death) in the Holy Book," and consequently they may go astray by leaving an obligation that Allah has revealed. Lo! I confirm that the penalty of Rajam be inflicted on him who commits illegal sexual intercourse, if he is already married and the crime is proved by witnesses or pregnancy or confession." Sufyan added, "I have memorized this narration in this way." `Umar added, "Surely Allah's Apostle carried out the penalty of Rajam, and so did we after him."

I asked `Abdullah bin Abi `Aufa about the Rajam (stoning somebody to death for committing illegal sexual intercourse). He replied, "The Prophet carried out the penalty of Rajam," I asked, "Was that before or after the revelation of Surat-an-Nur?" He replied, "I do not know."

A man who had drunk wine was brought before the Prophet (saws) when he was in Hunayn. He threw some dust on his face. He then ordered his Companions and they beat him with their sandals and whatever they had in their hands. He then said to them: Leave him, and they left him. The Messenger of Allah (saws) then died, and AbuBakr gave forty lashes for drinking wine, and then Umar in the beginning of his Caliphate inflicted forty stripes and at the end of his Caliphate he inflicted eighty stripes. Uthman (after him) inflicted both punishments, eighty and forty stripes, and finally Mu'awiyah established eighty stripes.

The Prophet lashed a drunk with dateleaf stalks and shoes. And Abu Bakr gave a drunk forty lashes.

(This is Ma'mar's version which is more accurate.) A man and a woman of the Jews committed fornication.

Some of them said to the others: Let us go to this Prophet, for he has been sent with an easy law. If he gives a judgment lighter than stoning, we shall accept it, and argue about it with Allah, saying: It is a judgment of one of your prophets. So they came to the Prophet (saws) who was sitting in the mosque among his companions.

They said: AbulQasim, what do you think about a man and a woman who committed fornication? He did not speak to them a word till he went to their school.

He stood at the gate and said: I adjure you by Allah Who revealed the Torah to Moses, what (punishment) do you find in the Torah for a person who commits fornication, if he is married?

They said: He shall be blackened with charcoal, taken round a donkey among the people, and flogged. A young man among them kept silent.

When the Prophet (saws) emphatically adjured him, he said: By Allah, since you have adjured us (we inform you that) we find stoning in the Torah (is the punishment for fornication).

The Prophet (saws) said: So when did you lessen the severity of Allah's command? He said:

A relative of one of our kings had committed fornication, but his stoning was suspended. Then a man of a family of common people committed fornication. He was to have been stoned, but his people intervened and said: Our man shall not be stoned until you bring your man and stone him. So they made a compromise on this punishment between them.

The Prophet (saws) said: So I decide in accordance with what the Torah says. He then commanded regarding them and they were stoned to death.

Az-Zuhri said: We have been informed that this verse was revealed about them: "It was We Who revealed the Law (to Moses): therein was guidance and light. By its standard have been judged the Jews, by the Prophet who bowed (as in Islam) to Allah's will.

A Jew and a Jewess were brought to Allah's Apostle on a charge of committing an illegal sexual intercourse. The Prophet asked them. "What is the legal punishment (for this sin) in your Book (Torah)?" They replied, "Our priests have innovated the punishment of blackening the faces with charcoal and Tajbiya." `Abdullah bin Salam said, "O Allah's Apostle, tell them to bring the Torah." The Torah was brought, and then one of the Jews put his hand over the Divine Verse of the Rajam (stoning to death) and started reading what preceded and what followed it. On that, Ibn Salam said to the Jew, "Lift up your hand." Behold! The Divine Verse of the Rajam was under his hand. So Allah's Apostle ordered that the two (sinners) be stoned to death, and so they were stoned. Ibn `Umar added: So both of them were stoned at the Balat and I saw the Jew sheltering the Jewess.

Malik related to me from Abu'z-Zinad that he said, ''Umar ibn Abd al-Aziz flogged a slave with eighty lashes for slander."

Abu'z-Zinad said, "I asked Abdullah ibn Amir ibn Rabia about that. He said, 'I saw Umar ibn al-Khattab, Uthman ibn Affan, the Khalifs, and so on, and I did not see any of them flog a slave more than forty lashes for slander.' "

Abu Dawud said: It has also been transmitted by Ibn Al 'Arubah from Qatadah from the Prophet (saws) to the effect that he gave a beating forty times with palm branches and sandals. And Shu'bah narrated it from Qatadah on the authority of Anas from Prophet (saws). This version has: He gave a beating with two palm-branches about forty times.

The jews came to Allah's Apostle and mentioned to him that a man and a lady among them had committed illegal sexual intercourse. Allah's Apostle said to them, "What do you find in the Torah regarding the Rajam?" They replied, "We only disgrace and flog them with stripes." `Abdullah bin Salam said to them, 'You have told a lie the penalty of Rajam is in the Torah.' They brought the Torah and opened it. One of them put his hand over the verse of the Rajam and read what was before and after it. `Abdullah bin Salam said to him, "Lift up your hand." Where he lifted it there appeared the verse of the Rajam. So they said, "O Muhammad! He has said the truth, the verse of the Rajam is in it (Torah)." Then Allah's Apostle ordered that the two persons (guilty of illegal sexual intercourse) be stoned to death, and so they were stoned, and I saw the man bending over the woman so as to protect her from the stones.

The Jews came to Allah's Apostle and told him that a man and a woman from amongst them had committed illegal sexual intercourse. Allah's Apostle said to them, "What do you find in the Torah (old Testament) about the legal punishment of Ar-Rajm (stoning)?" They replied, (But) we announce their crime and lash them." `Abdullah bin Salam said, "You are telling a lie; Torah contains the order of Rajm." They brought and opened the Torah and one of them solaced his hand on the Verse of Rajm and read the verses preceding and following it. `Abdullah bin Salam said to him, "Lift your hand." When he lifted his hand, the Verse of Rajm was written there. They said, "Muhammad has told the truth; the Torah has the Verse of Rajm. The Prophet then gave the order that both of them should be stoned to death. (`Abdullah bin `Umar said, "I saw the man leaning over the woman to shelter her from the stones."

I asked `Abdullah bin Abi `Aufa, 'Did Allah's Apostle carry out the Rajam penalty ( i.e., stoning to death)?' He said, "Yes." I said, "Before the revelation of Surat-an-Nur or after it?" He replied, "I don't Know."

from `Ali when the latter stoned a lady to death on a Friday. `Ali said, "I have stoned her according to the tradition of Allah's Apostle."

For the pasturing goats, he narrated the tradition similar to that transmitted by Sufyan bin Husain. This version adds “An old goat, one with defect in the eye or a male goat is not to be accepted in sadaqah(zakat) unless the collector wishes.”

Jabir b. 'Abdullah reported that Allah's Apostle (may peace be upon him) stoned (to death) a person from Banu Aslam, and a Jew and his wife.

While we were in the company of the Prophet in a tent he said, ''Would it please you to be one fourth of the people of Paradise?" We said, "Yes." He said, "Would It please you to be one-third of the people of Paradise?" We said, "Yes." He said, "Would it please you to be half of the people of Paradise?" We said, "Yes." Thereupon he said, "I hope that you will be one half of the people of Paradise, for none will enter Paradise but a Muslim soul, and you people, in comparison to the people who associate others in worship with Allah, are like a white hair on the skin of a black ox, or a black hair on the skin of a red ox."

Malik related to me from Ibn Shihab from Ubaydullah ibn Abdullah ibn Utba ibn Masud that Abdullah ibn Abbas said, "I heard Umar ibn al- Khattab say, 'Stoning is in the Book of Allah for those who commit adultery, men or women when they are muhsan and when there is clear proof of pregnancy or a confession.' "

I heard an old man who transmitted from Abu Bakrah on this father's authority that the Prophet (saws) had a woman stoned and a pit was dug up to her breasts.

Abu Dawud said: A man made me understand it from 'Uthman (b. Abi Shaibah)

Abu Dawud said: Al-Ghassani said: Juhainah, Ghamid and Bariq as the same.

Yahya said from Malik that he heard from Sulayman ibn Yasar and others that when they were asked whether the testimony of a man flogged for a hadd crime was permitted, they said, "Yes, when repentance (tawba) appears from him."

Malik related to me that he heard Ibn Shihab being asked about that and he said the like of what Sulayman ibn Yasar said.

Malik said, "That is what is done in our community. It is by the word of Allah, the Blessed, the Exalted, 'And those who accuse women who are muhsan, and then do not bring four witnesses, flog them with eighty lashes, and do not accept any testimony of theirs ever. They indeed are evil-doers, save those who turn in tawba after that and make amends. Allah is Forgiving, Merciful.' " (Sura 24 ayat 4).

The Holy Prophet (saws) said to Ibn Suriya': I remind you by Allah Who saved you from the people of Pharaoh, made you cover the sea, gave you the shade of clouds, sent down to you manna and quails, sent down you Torah to Moses, do you find stoning (for adultery) in your Book? He said: You have reminded me by the Great. It is not possible for me to belie you. He then transmitted the rest of the tradition.

This hadith has been transmitted on the authority of Abu Zinad with a slight variation of wording.

Uthman said: He could not vomit it, unless he did not drink it. He said to Ali: Inflict the prescribed punishment on him. Ali said to al-Hasan: Inflict the prescribed punishment on him.

Al-Hasan said: He who has enjoyed its pleasure should also bear its burden. So Ali said to Abdullah ibn Ja'far: Inflict the prescribed punishment on him. He took a whip and struck him with it while Ali was counting.

When he reached (struck) forty (lashes), he said: It is sufficient. The Prophet (saws) gave forty lashes. I think he also said: "And AbuBakr gave forty lashes, and Uthman eighty. This is all sunnah (standard practice). And this is dearer to me."

Yahya related to me from Malik that Muhammad ibn Abi Umama ibn Sahl ibn Hunayf heard his father say, "My father, Sahl ibn Hunayf did a ghusl at al-Kharrar. He removed the jubbah he had on while Amir ibn Rabia was watching, and Sahl was a man with beautiful white skin. Amir said to him, 'I have never seen anything like what I have seen today, not even the skin of a virgin.' Sahl fell ill on the spot, and his condition grew worse. Somebody went to the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, and told him that Sahl was ill, and could not go with him. The Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, came to him, and Sahl told him what had happened with Amir. The Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said, 'Why does one of you kill his brother? Why did you not say, "May Allah bless you?" (ta baraka-llah) The evil eye is true. Do wudu from it.' Amir did wudu from it and Sahl went with the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, and there was nothing wrong with him."

A man of the tribe of Aslam came to the Prophet (saws) and testified four times against himself that he had had illicit intercourse with a woman, while all the time the Prophet (saws) was turning away from him.

Then when he confessed a fifth time, he turned round and asked: Did you have intercourse with her? He replied: Yes. He asked: Have you done it so that your sexual organ penetrated hers? He replied: Yes. He asked: Have you done it like a collyrium stick when enclosed in its case and a rope in a well? He replied: Yes. He asked: Do you know what fornication is? He replied: Yes. I have done with her unlawfully what a man may lawfully do with his wife.

He then asked: What do you want from what you have said? He said: I want you to purify me. So he gave orders regarding him and he was stoned to death. Then the Prophet (saws) heard one of his companions saying to another: Look at this man whose fault was concealed by Allah but who would not leave the matter alone, so that he was stoned like a dog. He said nothing to them but walked on for a time till he came to the corpse of an ass with its legs in the air.

He asked: Where are so and so? They said: Here we are, Messenger of Allah (saws)! He said: Go down and eat some of this ass's corpse. They replied: Messenger of Allah! Who can eat any of this? He said: The dishonour you have just shown to your brother is more serious than eating some of it. By Him in Whose hand my soul is, he is now among the rivers of Paradise and plunging into them.

My father told me that Hakim bin Hizam manumitted one-hundred slaves in the Pre-Islamic period of ignorance and slaughtered one-hundred camels (and distributed them in charity). When he embraced Islam he again slaughtered one-hundred camels and manumitted one-hundred slaves. Hakim said, "I asked Allah's Apostle, 'O Allah's Apostle! What do you think about some good deeds I used to practice in the Pre-Islamic period of ignorance regarding them as deeds of righteousness?' Allah's Apostle said, "You have embraced Islam along with all those good deeds you did."

¹: These verses were abrogated in recitation but not ruling. Other ahadith establish the number for fosterage to be 5.

Ibn Umar reported that Allah's Messenger (may peace be upon him) stoned to death the Jews, both male and female, who had committed adultery. The Jews brought them to Allah's Messenger (may peace he upon him). The rest of the hadith is the same.

Malik related to me that he had heard that Uthman ibn Affan was brought a woman who had given birth after six months and he ordered her to be stoned. Ali ibn Abi Talib said to him, "She does not deserve that. Allah, the Blessed, the Exalted, says in His Book, 'Their carrying and weaning is thirty months,' (Sura 46 ayat 15) and he said, 'Mothers suckle their children for two full years for whoever wishes to complete the suckling.' (Sura 2 ayat 233) Pregnancy can then be six months, so she does not deserve to be stoned." Uthman ibn Affan sent for her and found that she had already been stoned.

Malik related to me that he asked Ibn Shihab about someone who committed sodomy. Ibn Shihab said, "He is to be stoned, whether or not he is muhsan."

The Prophet said, "None of you should flog his wife as he flogs a slave and then have sexual intercourse with her in the last part of the day."