The Book of Legal Punishments hadith

This hadith has been narrated on the authority of Abu Huraira through other chains of transmitters.

As he was being brought to Allah’s Apostle (ﷺ) I saw Ma’iz b. Malik-a short-statured person with strong sinews, having no cloak around him. He bore witness against his own self four times that he had committed adultery, whereupon Allah’s Messenger (ﷺ) said: Perhaps (you kissed her or embraced her). He said: No. by God, one deviating (from the path of virtue) has committed adultery. He then got him stoned (to death), and then delivered the address: Behold, as we set out for Jihad in the cause of Allah, one of you lagged behind and shrieked like the bleating of a male goat, and gave a small quantity of milk. By Allah, in case I get hold of him, I shall certainly punish him.

We set out for Jihad in the cause of Allah and one of you lagged behind and shrieked like the bleating of a male goat and one of then (goats’ gave a small quantity of milk. In case Allah gives me power over one of them, I will punish him (in such a way that it may have a deterrent effect upon others). In another narration transmitted on the authority of Sa’id b Jubair (the words are), that He (the Holy Prophet) turned him away four times.”

This hadith has been narrated on the authority of Jabir b. Samura through another chain of transmitters with the difference that along with the mentioning (of the fact) that he (the Holy Prophet) turned him away twice, or thrice.

Is it true what has reached me about you? He said: What has reached you about me? He said: It has reached me that you have committed (adultery) with the slave-girl of so and so? He said: Yes. He (the narrator) said: He testified four times. He (the Holy Prophet) then made pronouncement about him and he was stoned (to death).

I have committed immorality (adultery), so inflict punishment upon me. Allah’s Apostle (ﷺ) turned him away again and again. He then asked his people (about the state of his mind). They said: We do not know of any ailment of his except that he has committed something about which he thinks that he would not be able to relieve himself of its burden but with the Hadd being imposed upon him. He (Ma’iz) came back to Allah’s Apostle (ﷺ) and he commanded us to stone him. We took him to the Baqi’ al-Gharqad (the graveyard of Medina). We neither tied him nor dug any ditch for him. We attacked him with bones, with clods and pebbles. He ran away and we ran after him until he came upon the ston ground (al-Harra) and stopped there and we stoned him with heavy stones of the Harra until he became motionless (lie died). He (the Holy Prophet) then addressed (us) in the evening saying Whenever we set forth on an expedition in the cause of Allah, some one of those connected with us shrieked (under the pressure of sexual lust) as the bleating of a male goat. It is essential that if a person having committed such a deed is brought to me, I should punish him. He neither begged forgiveness for him nor cursed him.

Allah’s Apostle (ﷺ) stood tip (to address the audience) in the evening and praised Allah, glorified Him and then said: What about the people, that as we set out on an expedition, one of you remained behind us and he shrieked like the bleating of a male goat? But he did not mention (these words): People connected with us.”

” He made a confession of having committed adultery, thrice.”

Messenger of Allah, purify me, whereupon he said: Woe be upon you, go back, ask forgiveness of Allah and turn to Him in repentance. He (the narrator) said that he went back not far, then came and said: Allah’s Messenger, purify me. whereupon Allah’s Messenger (ﷺ) said: Woe be upon you, go back and ask forgiveness of Allah and turn to Him in repentance. He (the narrator) said that he went back not far, when he came and said: Allah’s Messenger, purify me. Allah’s Apostle (ﷺ) said as he had said before. When it was the fourth time, Allah’s Messenger (may, peace be upon him) said: From what am I to purify you? He said: From adultery, Allah’s Messenger (ﷺ) asked if he had been mad. He was informed that he was not mad. He said: Has he drunk wine? A person stood up and smelt his breath but noticed no smell of wine. Thereupon Allah’s Messenger (ﷺ) said: Have you committed adultery? He said: Yes. He made pronouncement about him and he was stoned to death. The people had been (divided) into two groups about him (Ma’iz). One of them said: He has been undone for his sins had encompassed him, whereas another said: There is no repentance more excellent than the repentance of Ma’iz, for he came to Allah’s Apostle (ﷺ) and placing his hand in his (in the Holy Prophet’s) hand said: Kill me with stones. (This controversy about Ma’iz) remained for two or three days. Then came Allah’s Messenger (ﷺ) to them (his Companions) as they were sitting. He greeted them with salutation and then sat down and said: Ask forgiveness for Ma’iz b. Malik. They said: May Allah forgive Ma’iz b. Malik. Thereupon Allah’s Messenger (ﷺ) said: He (Ma’iz) has made such a repentance that if that were to be divided among a people, it would have been enough for all of them. He (the narrator) said: Then a woman of Ghamid, a branch of Azd, came to him and said: Messenger of of Allah, purify me, whereupon he said: Woe be upon you; go back and beg forgiveness from Allah and turn to Him in repentance. She said: I find that you intend to send me back as you sent back Ma’iz. b. Malik. He (the Holy, Prophet) said: What has happened to you? She said that she had become pregnant as a result of fornication. He (the Holy Prophet) said: Is it you (who has done that)? She said: Yes. He (the Holy Prophet) said to her: (You will not be punished) until you deliver what is there in your womb. One of the Ansar became responsible for her until she was delivered (of the child). He (that Ansari) came to Allah’s Apostle (ﷺ) and said the woman of Ghamid has given birth to a child. He (the Holy Prophet) said: In that case we shall not stone her and so leave her infant with none to suckle him. One of the Ansar got up and said: Allah’s Apostle, let the responsibility of his suckling be upon me. She was then stoned to death.

Allah’s Messenger, I have wronged myself; I have committed adultery and I earnestly desire that you should purify me. He turned him away. On the following day, he (Ma’iz) again came to him and said: Allah’s Messenger, I have committed adultery. Allah’s Messenger (ﷺ) turned him away for the second time, and sent him to his people saying: Do you know if there is anything wrong with his mind. They denied of any such thing in him and said: We do not know him but as a wise good man among us, so far as we can judge. He (Ma’iz) came for the third time, and he (the Holy Prophet) sent him as he had done before. He asked about him and they informed him that there was nothing wrong with him or with his mind. When it was the fourth time, a ditch was dug for him and he (the Holy Prophet) pronounced judg- ment about him and he wis stoned. He (the narrator) said: There came to him (the Holy Prophet) a woman from Ghamid and said: Allah’s Messenger, I have committed adultery, so purify me. He (the Holy Prophet) turned her away. On the following day she said: Allah’s Messenger, Why do you turn me away? Perhaps, you turn me away as you turned away Ma’iz. By Allah, I have become pregnant. He said: Well, if you insist upon it, then go away until you give birth to (the child). When she was delivered she came with the child (wrapped) in a rag and said: Here is the child whom I have given birth to. He said: Go away and suckle him until you wean him. When she had weaned him, she came to him (the Holy Prophet) with the child who was holding a piece of bread in his hand. She said: Allah’s Apostle, here is he as I have weaned him and he eats food. He (the Holy Prophet) entrusted the child to one of the Muslims and then pronounced punishment. And she was put in a ditch up to her chest and he commanded people and they stoned her. Khalid b Walid came forward with a stone which he flung at her head and there spurted blood on the face of Khalid and so he abused her. Allah’s Apostle (ﷺ) heard his (Khalid’s) curse that he had huried upon her. Thereupon he (the Holy Prophet) said: Khalid, be gentle. By Him in Whose Hand is my life, she has made such a repentance that even if a wrongful tax-collector were to repent, he would have been forgiven. Then giving command regarding her, he prayed over her and she was buried.

Allah’s Apostle, I have done something for which (prescribed punishment) must be imposed upon me, so impose that. Allah’s Apostle (ﷺ) called her master and said: Treat her well, and when she delivers bring her to me. He did accordingly. Then Allah’s Apostle (ﷺ) pronounced judgment about her and her clothes were tied around her and then he commanded and she was stoned to death. He then prayed over her (dead body). Thereupon Umar said to him: Allah’s Apostle, you offer prayer for her, whereas she had committed adultery! Thereupon he said: She has made such a repentance that if it were to be divided among seventy men of Medina, it would be enough. Have you found any repentance better than this that she sacr ficed her life for Allah, the Majestic?

This hadith has been transmitted on the authority of Yahya b. Abu Kathir.

Messenger of Allah, I beg of you in the name of Allah that you pronounce judgment about me according to the Book of Allah. The second claimant who was wiser than him said: Well, decide amongst us according to the Book of Allah, but permit me (to say something). Thereupon Allah’s Messenger (may peace be upon ham) said: Say. He said: My son was a servant in the house of this person and he committed adultery with his wife. I was informed that my son deserved stoning to death (as punishment for this offence). I gave one hundred goats and a slave girl as ransom for this. I asked the scholars (if this could serve as an expiation for this offence). They informed me that my son deserved one hundred lathes and exile for one year. and this woman deserved stoning (as she was married). Thereupon Allah’s Messenger (may peace he upon him) said: By Him in Whose Hand is my life. I will decide between you according to the Book of Allah. The slave-girl and the goats should be given back, and your son is to be punished with one hundred lashes and exile for one year. And, O Unais (b. Zuhaq al-Aslami), go to this woman in the morning, and if she makes a confession, then stone her. He (the narrator) said: He went to her in the morning and she made a confession. And Allah’s Messenger (ﷺ) made pronouncement about her and she was stoned to death.

This hadith has been narrated on the authority of Zuhri with the same chain of transmitters.

What do you find in Torah for one who commits adultery? They said: We darken their faces and make them ride on the donkey with their faces turned to the opposite direction (and their backs touching each other), and then they are taken round (the city). He said: Bring Torah if you are truthful. They brought it and recited it until when they came to the verse pertaining to stoning, the person who was reading placed his hand on the verse pertaining to stoning, and read (only that which was) between his hands and what was subsequent to that. Abdullah b. Salim who was at that time with the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) said: Command him (the reciter) to lift his hand. He lifted it and there was, underneath that, the verse pertaining to stoning. Allah’s Messenger (ﷺ) pronounced judgment about both of them and they were stoned. Abdullah b. ‘Umar said: I was one of those who stoned them, and I saw him (the Jew) protecting her (the Jewess) with his body.

Ibn Umar reported that Allah’s Messenger (ﷺ) 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.

Ibn ‘Umar reported that the Jews brought to Allah’s Messenger (ﷺ) a man and a woman who had committed adultery. The rest of the hadith is the same.

There happened to pass by Allah’s Apostle (ﷺ) a Jew blackened and lashed. Allah’s Apostle (ﷺ) called them (the Jews) and said: Is this the punishment that you find in your Book (Torah) as a prescribed punishment for adultery? They said: Yes. He (the Holy Prophet) called one of the scholars amongst them and said: I ask you in the name of Allah Who sent down the Torah on Moses if that is the prescribed punishment for adultery that you find in your Book. He said: No. Had you not asked me in the name of Allah, I would not have given you this information. We find stoning to death (as punishment prescribed in the Torah). But this (crime) became quite common amongst our aristocratic class. So when we caught hold of any rich person (indulging in this offence) we spared him, but when we caught hold of a helpless person we imposed the prescribed punishment upon him. We then said: Let us argree (on a punishment) which we can inflict both upon the rich and the poor. So We decided to blacken the face with coal and flog as a substitute punishment for stoning. Thereupon Allah’s Messenger (ﷺ) said: O Allah, I am the first to revive Thy command when they had made it dead. He then commanded and he (the offender) was stoned to death. Allah, the Majestic and Glorious, sent down (this verse):” O Messenger, (the behaviour of) those who vie with one another in denying the truth should not grieve you…” up to” is vouchsafed unto you, accept it” (v. 41) 2176 It was said (by the Jews): Go to Muhammad; it he commands you to blacken the face and award flogging (as punishment for adultery), then accept it, but it he gives verdict for stoning, then avoid it. It was (then) that Allah, the Majestic and Great, sent down (these verses):” And they who do not judge in accordance with what Allah has revealed are, indeed, deniers of the truth” (v. 44) ;” And they who do not judge in accordance with what Allah has revealed-they, they indeed are the wrongdoers” (v. 45) ;” And they who do not judge in accordance with what God has revealed-they are the iniquitous (v. 47). (All these verses) were revealed in connection with the non-believers.

” Allah’s Apostle (ﷺ) pronounced judgment and he was stoned (to death)” And he mentioned nothing subsequent to that pertaining to the revelation of verses.

Jabir b. ‘Abdullah reported that Allah’s Apostle (ﷺ) stoned (to death) a person from Banu Aslam, and a Jew and his wife.

This hadith has been transmitted on the authority of Juraij with a slight variation of words.

I asked ‘Abdullah b. Abu Aufi if Allah’s Messenger (ﷺ) awarded (the punishment) of stoning (to death). He said: Yes. I said: After Sura al-Nur was revealed or before that? He said: I do not know.

When the slave-woman of any of you commits adultery and this (offence of hers) becomes clear, she should be flogged (as the presribed) punishment, but hurl no reproach at her. If she commits adultery again, she should (again be punished) by flogging, but hurl no reproach upon her. It she commits fornication for the third time. and it becomes clear, then he should sell her, even if only for a rope of hair.

This hadith his been narrated on the authority of Abu Huraira through another chain of transmitters with a slight variation of words.

If she commits adultery, then flog her and it she commits adultery again, then flog her and then sell her even for a rope. Ibn Shihab said: I do not know whether he said this (his statement pertaining to the sale of slave-woman) at the third or the fourth time. Ibn Shihab said that the word) dafir (used in the text) means rope.

This hadith has been narrated on the authority of Abu Huraira and Zaid b. Khalid al-Jubani, but in this no merition is made of the words of Ibn Shihab that dafir means rope.

This hadith has been transmitted on the authority of Abu Huraira and Zaid b. Khalid al-Juhani in the same way as transmitted by Malik with this (difference) tnat there is a doubt whether her sale (that of the slave-girl committing adultery) was mentioned after the third or the fourth time.

O people, impose the prescribed punishment upon your slaves, those who are married and those not married, for a slave-woman belonging to Allah’s Messenger (ﷺ) had committed adultery, and he committed me to flog her. But she had recently given birth to a child and I was afraid that if I flogged her I might kill her. So I mentioned that to Allah’s Apostle (ﷺ) and he said: You have done well.

” Those who are married and those who are not married.” There is also an addition in it:” I spare her until she is all right.”