. IÚ IÛJ ':?Ü?I Iljj ,H c.,tÝ (cont.)

Commentary on the Forty Hadith of al-Nawawi reached this level of complete faith desiring such things for himself. Assuming that could be the case, the response to this question is found in one of the other narration of this hadith that was mentioned earlier. In a narration in Musnad Ahmad, it states, O J ...: '- ; " ?\ 9 ࡜/"࡝ű ࡞࡟ࡠű JS>- ࡡ :XJ; ':} ůࡔ ࡕ ... "And come not near unto unlawful sexual intercourse. Verily, it is a greatly lewd act and an evil way" (al-lsraa 32). After all of that, if a person still commits the act of adultery, he deserves a severe punishment. The punishment for adultery, when it is proven, is stoning until death. This is something agreed upon by the Muslim scholars. It was something enacted during the time of the Prophet (peace be upon him) and afterwards.3 There used to be a Quranic verse stating such a punishment but its reading was later abrogated.4 This has been referred to in the following narrative from Sahih Muslim: Abdullah ibn Abbaas reported that Umar ibn al-Khattaab sat on the pulpit of the Messenger of Allah (peace · be upon him) and said, "Verily, Allah sent Muhammad (peace be upon him) with truth and He sent down the Book upon him, and the verse of stoning was included in what was sent down to him. We 1 Another term that is commonly used in the books of fiqh instead of al-thayyib is al-muhsin (ࣜI). Muhsin means that the person is free, responsible, Muslim and has had sexual intercourse in a legal marriage. See Abu Jaib, pp. 91-92. 2 Such as the laws of hijaab, the prohibition of a man and woman being alone in private and so forth. Fadhl-Ilaahi 's Master's Thesis is about all of the numerous means by which the laws and practices of Islam should prevent the occurrence of illegal sexual intercourse. See Fadhl-Ilaahi, Al-Tadaabeer al-Waaqiyah min al-Zinaa fl al-Fiqh al-lslaami (Gujranwalah, Pakistan: ldaarah Tarjumaan al-Islaam, 1988), passim. 3 For examples of the Prophet (peace be upon him) enacting this punishment, see Siddiqi, trans., Sahih Muslim, vol. 3, pp. 913-921. 4 Abrogation with respect to the Quran applies in different ways. One is a verse whose wording is still read but whose ruling has been abrogated. That is the most common and well-known. A second type is where the wording of the verse has been abrogated, that is, it is no longer read as part of the Quran, but its ruling still applies. This is true for the verse concerning stoning the married adulterer. A third case is where neither the recitation nor the ruling still applies. Hadith #14: The Sanctity of a Muslim's Blood recited it, retained it in our memory and understood it. The Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) awarded the punishment of stoning to death [to the married adulterer and adulteress] and after him we also awarded the punishment of stoning. I am afraid that, with the lapse of time, the people [may forget it] and say, 'We do not find the punishment of stoning in the Book of Allah,' and thus go astray by abandoning the duty prescribed by Allah. Stoning is a duty laid down in Allah's Book for married men and women who commit adultery when proof is established or if there is pregnancy' or a confession.2 The Prophet (peace be upon him), also in a narration in Sahih Muslim, mentioned that the non-married fornicator is to be lashed one hundred times and banished for a year. He also stated that the thayyib fornicator is to be lashed one hundred times and then stoned to death. Some of the scholars follow this hadith and state that a thayyib fornicator is both to be lashed and then stoned. This is how Ali enacted this punishment upon a woman, saying, "I lashed her according to the Book of Allah and I stoned her according to the sunnah of the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him)."3 This was the view of Ahmad, Ishaaq, Dawood and ibn al-Mundhir. It was also the view of al-Hasan al-Basri and some other early scholars.4 There are some who hold the view that both the lashing and stoning is only for older people who commit adultery while younger people who do so are only to be stoned. This is because, they say, the crime of the older person is much more heinous since he does not possess the same drive that a younger person may possess. This view has also been narrated from Ahmad and Ishaaq.5 The majority of the scholars state that one does not do both lashing and stoning to the thayyib fornicator. They argue that the above referred to hadith has been abrogated. The abrogation is in the authentic hadith concerning Maaiz who committed adultery and the Prophet (peace be upon him) had him stoned without having him lashed first. This is also true for the other narrations that mention the Prophet (peace be upon him) having someone stoned but never mention him also having them lashed.