Stoning someone is from Jewish laws. Why do some do it?

format_quote Originally Posted by Karl

True, but stoning would be rare as there would need to be four male witnesses or eight female witnesses. Or the sinners were so grief stricken with guilt that they confessed because they believed being killed by stoning may give them forgiveness from Allah. And of course if witnesses were proved to be false, they would be killed.

1. In the Sunnah, Punishment with stoning to death was given to married adulterer only. The punishment of unmarried adulterer is revealed in the Holy Quraan in surah An-Noor verse 2. It is to lash them with 100 lashes in front of a group of Muslims.


2. In any case of adultery, four eye-witnesses are required. We didn't hear of 8 females. As far as I know, only female witnesses are not accepted. There must always be one or more male witnesses with them. In this law there is great benefit for female Muslims because witnessing against a criminal is not an easy job. In fact I have understood that two females in place of one man are required because only one female will fear a lot and it is this fear which will make them forget the things.

3. Allah سبحانه و تعالى doesn't want the spreading of the news about illegal sex relations because this will increase the crime. Allah is the All Knowing and All Wise. So Allah didn't give freedom to people to recite the love stories of others. Rather Allah revealed the law for the accusers with sex crime to bring 4 witnesses and confirm the case in the court so that the criminals are punished in the presence of a community of Muslims to give a lesson to the whole community. A Muslim community must be very poise and high above any immorality.

4.If an accuser fails to bring 4 witnesses then he is to be lashed with 80 lashes in front of the Muslim community, but is not killed. It is the false accuser who is lashed while the witnesses are neither killed nor lashed. Please remember that the Muslim witnesses were never false and they were never punished. Only false accusers were punished with 80 lashes only, but they were not killed.

5. I request all writers to be careful about the Islamic Laws and Commands. Whatever they write, they must be sure that they are presenting correct statements from the Holy Quraan and/or Sunnah. They must remember that their wrong statement will result in horrible punishment to them in the Hereafter.

6. This is true that in the Jewish law there is the punishment of stoning to death of the married adulterer. They had changed this law and instead used to flog the criminal and blacken his/her face and then make him/her sit on a donkey with their faces backward so that people could see them. When they brought such a case to Muhammad salla Allaho alaihi wa sallam, He said that the punishment was stoning to death (because the criminal was married). But they didn't accept the truth of their own law. The Prophet Muhammad salla Allaho alaihi wa sallam asked them about the punishment for such case in the Tawrah, they said that it was to flog the sinner and make him sit on a donkey with blacken face. The Prophet salla Allaho alaihi wa sallam asked their rabbis on oath whether that was the punishment for adultery by a married couple. They all but one answered that it was so. The one who kept quiet was Ibn Surya who was considered to be the greatest scholar of the Tawrah. The Prophet salla Allaho alaihi wa sallam addressed him and asked, "I want you to swear by that God Who saved your people from the Pharaoh and gave you the Law on the Tur and answer whether it is this same punishment for (married )adulterer in the Tawrah, that these people tell."
He said, "I would never have confessed that the punishment of adultery ( of married criminal ) is stoning to death, if you had not laid upon me such a heavy oath. The fact is that when adultery became common among us, the judges would let the offenders go if they happened to be big people. As this difference caused great discontent among the common people, we changed the law that instead of stoning the sinners to death, they should be flogged and mounted on a donkey with blackened faces".

After this case no other course was left for the Jews and the culprits were stoned to death by the order of the Holy Prophet salla Allaho alaihi wa sallam.

Allah knows best the exact situation. I stated what I remember from the tafseer of verses 42 and 43 of surah Al-Ma'idah. Please read the E.N.70 of The Meaning of The Qur'aan, volume 1 ( S. Abul A'Ala Maududi).

Tawrah was the Book of Allah, Quraan is also the Book of Allah and the Sunnah of the Prophet Muhammad salla Allaho alaihi wa sallam also came down from Allah. Therefore the source of the law is the same and that is Allah The LORD of the worlds.