“The Islamic law attaches great importance to chastity
and condemns illicit relations before marriage.
Severe penalties sanction this
kind of crime, but it is false to say that Islam has made provision for the
stoning to death of the offenders.
In fact, the Quran makes no mention of
stoning as a punishment, whether for the sin of adultery or for any other
crime. The verse establishing the sentences for adultery contains no ambiguity.
“The woman and the man guilty of adultery or
fornication, flog each of them with a hundred stripes: Let not compassion move
you in their case, in a matter prescribed by Allah, if you believe in Allah and
the Last Day: and let a party of the Believers witness their punishment.” (24: 3)
Although the Quran has clearly prescribed flogging,
some schools of thought maintain that this verse deals exclusively with the
punishment reserved for unmarried people who commit the sin of adultery and
that married persons who are found to be guilty (of the sin) have to face the
penalty of death by stoning.However, the word “Al-Zani” denotes both the fornicator and the adulterer. The fornicator is that unmarried person who commits the sin of lust. No linguistic authority has so far proved otherwise and it is obvious that the above verse does not distinguish between married and unmarried people.
The confusion seems to exist because the Holy Prophet of Islam (pbuh) had, on certain occasions, ordered the killing of those accused of adultery. However, it should be noted that before the Holy Quran was revealed in its entirety, the Holy Prophet (pbuh) conformed to the laws contained in the Torah to judge certain crimes, for the books of Moses (as) have provided for the stoning to death in these cases (Leviticus 20: 10, Deuteronomy 22: 122, John 8: 3-5).