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{{hatnote|This is a sub-article to [[Islamic criminal jurisprudence]] and [[Stoning]].}}
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{{Fiqh |criminal}}

In [[Islam]], stoning ({{langx|ar|رجم|Rajm}})<ref name="eab">E. Ann Black, Hossein Esmaeili and Nadirsyah Hosen (2014), Modern Perspectives on Islamic Law, {{ISBN|978-0857934475}}, pp. 222-223</ref><ref name="rp">Rudolph Peters, Crime and Punishment in Islamic Law, Cambridge University Press, {{ISBN|978-0521796705}}, pp. 37</ref> is the ''[[Hudud]]'' punishment wherein an organized group throws stones at a convicted individual until that person dies. Under some versions of Islamic law ([[Sharia]]), it is the prescribed punishment in cases of [[Zina|adultery]] committed by a married person which requires either a confession from either the adulterer or adulteress, or producing four witnesses of sexual penetration.<ref name="osismuhsan">[https://web.archive.org/web/20150122001300/http://www.oxfordislamicstudies.com/article/opr/t125/e1587 Muhsan] The Oxford Dictionary of Islam (2012)</ref><ref name="ismailp">Ismail Poonwala (2007), The Pillars of Islam: Laws pertaining to human intercourse, Oxford University Press, {{ISBN|978-0195689075}}, pp. 448-457</ref><ref>Al Muwatta {{Hadith-usc|muwatta|usc=no|41|1|8|}}</ref><ref name="Al Hakam 2022">{{cite web |date=23 January 2022 |title=Rape in Islamic law: Establishing the crime and upholding the rights of the innocent |url=https://www.alhakam.org/rape-in-islam/ |access-date=2 January 2023 |website=Al Hakam}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Peters |first=R. |title=Encyclopaedia of Islam |publisher=Brill |year=2012 |editor=P. Bearman |edition=2nd |chapter=Zinā or Zināʾ |editor2=Th. Bianquis |editor3=C.E. Bosworth |editor4=E. van Donzel |editor5=W.P. Heinrichs}}</ref><ref>Dr Azman Mohd Noor, [http://irep.iium.edu.my/16877/1/PUNISHMENT_FOR_RAPE_IN_ISLAMIC_LAW.pdf Punishment for rape in Islamic Law], Malayan Law Journal Articles [2009] 5 MLJ cxiv</ref>

The punishment of stoning as a capital punishment for adultery is unique in Islamic law in that it conflicts with the Qur'anic prescription for premarital and extramarital sex ([[zina]])<ref name="cook-2000-140">{{cite book |last1=Cook |first1=Michael |title=The Koran, A Very Brief Introduction |date=2000 |publisher=Oxford University Press |page=140 |url=https://freeebookspdf-9ab41.firebaseapp.com/A412YNazdrBDdJ3GbEjW/The%20Koran%20A%20Very%20Short%20Introduction%20PDF.pdf |access-date=4 July 2018}}</ref><ref name=eab/> found in Surah An-Nur, 2: "The woman and the man guilty of adultery or fornication — flog each of them with a hundred stripes."<ref name=q242>{{cite quran|24|2|s=nosup}}, Quote - "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 ye believe in Allah and the Last Day: and let a party of the Believers witness their punishment."</ref> For this reason some minority Muslim sects such as the former [[Kharijites]], and [[Islamic Modernism|Islamic modernists]] such as the [[Quranism|Quranists]] disagree with the legality of stoning.

However, stoning is mentioned in multiple [[hadith]]s<ref>e.g. Sahih Muslim 17:4191 - 4209 and 17:4916 & 17:4194</ref> (reports claiming to quote what Muhammad said verbatim on various matters, which most Muslims and Islamic scholars consider an authoritative source second only to Quran as a source of religious law and rulings),<ref name=kalu>OU Kalu (2003), Safiyya and Adamah: Punishing adultery with sharia stones in twenty‐first‐century Nigeria, African Affairs, 102(408), pp. 389-408</ref><ref name=nisrine>Nisrine Abiad (2008), Sharia, Muslim States and International Human Rights Treaty Obligations, British Institute of International and Comparative Law, {{ISBN|978-1905221417}}, pp. 24-25</ref> and therefore most schools of Islamic jurisprudence accept it as a prescribed punishment for adultery.<ref name=eab/> The punishment has been rarely applied in the history of Islam owing to the very strict evidential requirements stipulated by Islamic law.<ref name=eab/>

==Practice==
{{further information|Stoning}}
[[File:Stoning of woman.jpg|thumb|upright=1.3|''The Stoning of an Adulteress'', illustration to a manuscript of ''[[1001 Nights]]'' by [[Sani ol molk|Abu'l Hasan Ghaffari]] or his atelier. Tehran, 1853–1857.]]
Legal imposition of the stoning punishment was very rare in Islamic history. During the 623-year history of the Ottoman Empire, for which there are voluminous court records, there is only one recorded example of a judge sentencing a convict to death by stoning, and the ruling contravened Islamic law on at least two grounds (sufficient evidence was not produced, and a Jewish man was sentenced to death despite the law stating clearly that the death penalty for illegal sex should only be applied to Muslims).<ref>Marc Baer, "Death in the Hippodrome: Sexual Politics and Legal Culture in the Reign of Mehmed IV," Past & Present 210, 2011, pp. 61-91 {{doi|10.1093/pastj/gtq062}}</ref> No sentences of stoning have been recorded in Syria during Muslim rule.{{sfn|Kadri|2012|p=217}}  In Ottoman Istanbul, there was only one instance of stoning ever took place, according to Ottoman records.<ref>[[Jonathan A.C. Brown]] (2014), ''Misquoting Muhammad'', Oneworld Publications, p. 288</ref> Muslim jurists used a number of techniques to avoid application of the stoning penalty. They interpreted the evidentiary requirements so strictly that it was effectively impossible to prove the offense. They actively encouraged witnesses to withhold testimony, and argued that it was morally better to do so. They defined the offense narrowly to exclude many types of sexual activity. And they developed the legal concept of shubha (doubt), which held that when an illegal sexual act resembled legal sex in some way, the stoning penalty should not be applied.<ref>James E. Baldwin, "Prostitution, Islamic Law and Ottoman Societies," Journal of the Economic and Social History of the Orient, 55, 2012, pp. 117-52 {{doi|10.1163/156852012X628518}}</ref> Techniques used to argue that the pregnancy of a single woman should not be considered evidence of zināʿ included fantastic presumptions about the length of the human gestation period. Classical Hanafite jurists ruled that it could last for up to two years, Shafi'ites four, and Malikites as long as five years.{{sfn|Kadri|2012|p=231}}

According to journalist [[Max Rodenbeck]],

<blockquote>In almost all cases where it has been applied in recent years, stoning has taken place in tribal or rebel areas beyond the control of central governments—the [[Taliban]] in Afghanistan, [[Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant|ISIS]] in Iraq, and [[Boko Haram]] in Nigeria being cases in point. Out of the world’s forty-nine Muslim-majority states, six retain the punishment in deference to Islamic legal tradition, ... Of these countries only Iran, which officially placed a moratorium on stoning in 2002 but still gives leeway to individual judges, has actually carried it out.<ref name=Rodenbeck-36>{{cite journal|last1=Rodenbeck |first1=Max|title=How She Wants to Modify Muslims [Review of ''Heretic: Why Islam Needs a Reformation Now'' by Ayaan Hirsi Ali ]|journal=New York Review of Books |date=3 December 2015|volume=LXII|issue=19|page=36|url=http://www.nybooks.com/articles/archives/2015/dec/03/ayaan-hirsi-ali-wants-modify-muslims/|access-date=18 November 2015}}</ref></blockquote>

Saudi Arabia sentenced four people by stoning between the 1980 and 1992.{{sfn|Kadri|2012|p=232}}
As of 2005, stoning punishments have been considered or handed down in Nigeria and Somalia for the crimes of [[adultery]] and [[sodomy]] (homosexuality).<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.law.pitt.edu/about/engaged/jurist|title=JURIST &#124; School of Law &#124; University of Pittsburgh|website=www.law.pitt.edu}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.gaynz.com/news/default.asp?dismode=article&artid=2805 |title=5th Delay in Nigerian Gay Trial. Two men facing death by stoning for the alleged crime of sodomy .... September 14, 2005 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20051025003005/http://www.gaynz.com/news/default.asp?dismode=article&artid=2805 |archive-date=October 25, 2005 }}</ref> Since the Sharia legal system was introduced in northern [[Nigeria]] in 2000, more than a dozen Muslims have been sentenced to death by stoning.<ref>{{cite news|last=Jacinto|first=Leela|title=Nigerian Woman Fights Stoning Death|url=https://abcnews.go.com/International/story?id=80062&page=1|access-date=8 June 2011|newspaper=ABC News International|date=18 Mar 2011}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|title=Gay Nigerians face Sharia death|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/6940061.stm|access-date=8 June 2011|newspaper=BBC News|date=10 Aug 2007}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|last=Coleman|first=Sarah|title=Nigeria: Stoning Suspended|url=http://www.worldpress.org/Africa/1668.cfm|access-date=8 June 2011|newspaper=World Press|date=Dec 2003}}</ref> In one case, an appellate court in the state of [[Sokoto (city)|Sokoto]] overturned a stoning sentence on  the basis that divorced defendant might not have conceived her child in [[zina]] (fornication) because she may have been carrying her baby for as long as five years.{{sfn|Kadri|2012|p=231}} Another Nigerian state court of appeal assessed the upper limit of gestation at seven years.{{sfn|Kadri|2012|p=231}}

In Pakistan "more than three decades of official Islamization have so far failed to produce a single actual stoning..."{{sfn|Kadri|2012|p=225}}   Iran officially placed a moratorium on stoning in 2002 but still gives leeway to individual judges to sentence stoning.<ref name=Rodenbeck-36/>  Sentences of stoning have generated heavy backlash by human rights groups,<ref name="amnesty.org">{{cite web|url=https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/news/2013/11/afghanistan-reject-stoning-flogging-amputation-and-other-taliban-era-punishments/|title=Amnesty International - Afghanistan: Reject stoning, flogging, amputation and other Taliban-era punishments|date=26 November 2013|work=amnesty.org}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.hrw.org/news/2012/05/31/sudan-ban-death-stoning|title=Sudan: Ban Death by Stoning - Human Rights Watch|work=hrw.org|date=31 May 2012 }}</ref> which considers stoning a form of [[Torturous death|execution by torture]].<ref name=Seifert-18-2-2014>{{cite web|last1=Seifert|first1=Kathryn|title=Death by Stoning: Why Is This Sickening Punishment Legal?|url=https://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/stop-the-cycle/201402/death-stoning-why-is-sickening-punishment-legal|website=Psychology Today|access-date=18 November 2015|date=18 February 2014}}</ref>

From July 2014 to February 2015, at least 16 people of whom nine were executed (not all by ''rajm'') by [[Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant]] (ISIL) in Syria for the crimes of adultery or homosexuality, according to the [[Syrian Observatory for Human Rights]].<ref name=Becker>{{cite web|last1=Becker|first1=Olivia|title=Syrian Woman Reportedly Survives Islamic State's Execution by Stoning|url=https://www.vice.com/en/article/syrian-woman-reportedly-survives-islamic-states-execution-by-stoning/|publisher=[[VICE News]]|date=January 31, 2015}}</ref>

==Scriptural basis==
===Quran===
Stoning is not mentioned as a form of capital punishment in the canonical text of the Quran.<ref>{{Cite encyclopedia|author=Dmitry V. Frolov| year= 2006 | title=Stoning|encyclopedia=Encyclopaedia of the Qurʾān|editor=Jane Dammen McAuliffe|volume=5|page=130|publisher=Brill}}</ref>

=== ''Hadith'' ===
{{Religious text primary|section|date=December 2017}}
{{Over-quotation|section|date=December 2017}}
Numerous [[Sahih]] [[hadith]]s describe stoning. According to [[Sunni]] scholars, [[sahih]] [[hadith]]s are reliable. The early Islamic text [[Musannaf of Abd al-Razzaq]], in the chapter on ''Rajm'', lists 70 [[hadith]] reports of stoning linked to Muhammad, and 100 to his companions and other authorities.<ref>Christopher Melchert (1997), The Formation of the Sunni Schools of Law: 9th-10th Centuries CE, Brill Academic, {{ISBN|978-9004109520}}, pp. 16 with footnote 78</ref>

The [[hadith]] Sahih Bukhari, the book most trusted after Quran by most Muslims, has several sunnah regarding [[stoning]]. For example,<ref>Elyse Semerdjian (2008), "Off the Straight Path": Illicit Sex, Law, and Community in Ottoman Aleppo, Syracuse University Press, {{ISBN|978-0815631736}}, pp. 8-14</ref>

{{blockquote|Narrated Ibn 'Abbas: '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."|{{Hadith-usc|bukhari|usc=yes|8|82|816}} see also {{hadith-usc|usc=yes|Muslim|17|4194}}}}

{{blockquote|Narrated Abu Huraira: A man from Bani Aslam came to Allah's Apostle while he was in the mosque and called (the Prophet) saying, "O Allah's Apostle! I have committed illegal sexual intercourse." On that the Prophet turned his face from him to the other side, whereupon the man moved to the side towards which the Prophet had turned his face, and said, "O Allah's Apostle! I have committed illegal sexual intercourse." The Prophet turned his face (from him) to the other side whereupon the man moved to the side towards which the Prophet had turned his face, and repeated his statement. The Prophet turned his face (from him) to the other side again. The man moved again (and repeated his statement) for the fourth time. So when the man had given witness four times against himself, the Prophet called him and said, "Are you insane?" He replied, "No." The Prophet then said (to his companions), "Go and stone him to death." The man was a married one. Jabir bin 'Abdullah Al-Ansari said: I was one of those who stoned him. We stoned him at the Musalla ('Id praying place) in Medina. When the stones hit him with their sharp edges, he fled, but we caught him at Al-Harra and stoned him till he died.|{{Hadith-usc|bukhari|usc=yes|7|63|196}} }}

See also other hadiths from Sahih Bukhari:  {{Hadith-usc|bukhari|usc=yes|2|23|413}} {{Hadith-usc|bukhari|usc=yes|3|34|421}} {{Hadith-usc|bukhari|usc=yes|3|49|860}} {{Hadith-usc|bukhari|usc=yes|3|50|885}} {{Hadith-usc|bukhari|usc=yes|4|56|829}} {{Hadith-usc|bukhari|usc=yes|6|60|79}} {{Hadith-usc|bukhari|usc=yes|7|63|195}}.

{{blockquote|Narrated Ash Shaibani:

I asked `Abdullah bin Abi `Aufa, 'Did Allah's Messenger (SAWS) 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."

Bukhari Book 86 hadith 42. }}

Sahih Muslim Book 17 has several hadith regarding Stoning specifically (17:4191-4209, and 17:4914). For example,
{{blockquote|Abu Huraira reported that a person from amongst the Muslims came to Allah's Messenger while he was in the mosque. He called him saying: Allah's Messenger. I have committed adultery. He (the Holy Prophet) turned away from him, He (again) came round facing him and said to him: Allah's Messenger, I have committed adultery. He (the Holy Prophet) turned away until he did that four times, and as he testified four times against his own self, Allah's Messenger called him and said: Are you mad? He said: No. He (again) said: Are you married? He said: Yes. Thereupon Allah's Messenger said: Take him and stone him. Ibn Shihab (one of the narrators) said: One who had heard Jabir b. 'Abdullah saying this informed me thus: I was one of those who stoned him. We stoned him at the place of prayer (either that of 'Id or a funeral). When the stones hurt him, he ran away. We caught him in the Harra and stoned him (to death). This hadith has been narrated through another chain of transmitters.|{{hadith-usc|usc=yes|Muslim|17|4196}} }}

See also other hadiths from the Sahih Muslim book:  {{hadith-usc|usc=yes|Muslim|17|4191}}, {{hadith-usc|usc=no|Muslim|17|4198}}, {{hadith-usc|usc=no|Muslim|17|4199}}.

Other [[hadith]]s also mention stoning as the punishment for adultery.
{{blockquote|Narrated Jabir ibn Abdullah: A man committed fornication with a woman. So the Apostle of Allah ordered regarding him and the prescribed punishment of flogging was inflicted on him. He was then informed that he was married. So he commanded regarding him and he was stoned to death.|{{hadith-usc|usc=yes|Abudawud|38|4424}} }}

See also other hadiths from the Abu Dawud book: {{hadith-usc|usc=yes|Abudawud|38|4421}}, {{hadith-usc|usc=no|Abudawud|38|4426}}, {{hadith-usc|usc=no|Abudawud|38|4429}}, {{hadith-usc|usc=no|Abudawud|38|4433}}.

==In jurisprudence (fiqh)==
''Rajm'', sometimes spelled as ''Rajam'', has been extensively discussed in the texts of early, medieval and modern era Islamic jurisprudence ([[fiqh]]s).<ref name=ismailp/>

Persons who accuse a woman of adultery but are not able to bring four witnesses—a crime known as ''Qadhf'', القذف<ref>Joseph Schacht, ''An Introduction to Islamic Law'' (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1973), pp. 178–181</ref>—are liable to a punishment of 80 lashes and to be unacceptable as witnesses unless they repent and reform. The testimony of a man who accuses his own spouse without any other witnesses may be accepted if they swear by God four times that they are telling the truth with a fifth oath to incur God's condemnation if they be lying. In this case, if his spouse counterswears, no punishment will be enforced.<ref>Quran 24:6-9, Quote - "And for those who launch a charge against their spouses, and have (in support) no evidence but their own― their solitary evidence (can be received) if they bear witness four times (with an oath) by Allah that they are solemnly telling the truth; And the fifth (oath) (should be) that they solemnly invoke the curse of Allah on themselves if they tell a lie. But it would avert the punishment from the wife, if she bears witness four times (with an oath) by Allah, that (her husband) is telling a lie; And the fifth (oath) should be that she solemnly invokes the wrath of Allah on herself if (her accuser) is telling the truth."</ref>{{Primary source inline|date=December 2015}}
 
One of the widely followed Islamic legal commentaries, ''Al-Muwatta'' by [[Malik ibn Anas]], state that contested pregnancy is sufficient proof of adultery and the woman must be stoned to death.<ref name="osismuhsan"/><ref name="ReferenceA">Al-Muwatta {{Hadith-usc|muwatta|usc=no|41|1|8|}}</ref>

===Hanafi===
[[Hanafi]] jurists have held that the accused must be a ''muhsan'' at the time of religiously disallowed sex to be punished by ''Rajm'' (stoning).<ref name=es8/> A ''Muhsan'' is an adult, free, Muslim who has previously enjoyed legitimate sexual relations in matrimony, regardless of whether the marriage still exists.<ref name=osismuhsan/> In other words, stoning does not apply to someone who was never married in his or her life (only lashing in public is the mandatory punishment in such cases).<ref name=es8>Elyse Semerdjian (2008), "Off the Straight Path": Illicit Sex, Law, and Community in Ottoman Aleppo, Syracuse University Press, {{ISBN|978-0815631736}}, pp. 22-23</ref>

For evidence, Hanafi fiqh accepts the following: self-confession, or testimony of four male witnesses (female witnesses are not acceptable).<ref name=es8/> Hanafi Islamic law literature specifies two types of stoning.<ref name=es8/> One, when the punishment is based on ''bayyina'', or concrete evidence (four male witnesses). In this case the person is bound, a pit dug, the bound person placed and partially buried inside the pit so that he or she may not escape, thereafter the public stoning punishment is executed.<ref name=es8/> A woman sentenced to stoning must be partially buried up to her chest.<ref name=es8b/> The first stones are thrown by the witnesses and the accuser, thereafter the Muslim community present, stated [[Abū Ḥanīfa]] and other Hanafi scholars.<ref name=es8/> In second type of stoning, when the punishment is based on self-confession, the stoning is to be performed without digging a pit or partially burying the person. In this case, the [[qadi]] (judge) should throw the first stone before other Muslims join in. Further, if the person flees, the person is allowed to leave.<ref name=es8/>

Hanafi scholars specify the stone size to be used for stoning, to be the size of one's hand. It should not be too large to cause death too quickly, nor too small to extend only pain.<ref name=es8/>

[[Hanafi]]tes have traditionally held that the witnesses should throw the first stones in case the conviction was brought about by witnesses, and the ''qadi'' must throw the first stones in case the conviction was brought about by a confession.<ref name=rp/>

===Shafi'i===
The [[Shafii]] school literature has the same Islamic law analysis as the Hanafi. However, it recommends, that the first stone be thrown by the Imam or his deputy in all cases, followed by the Muslim community witnessing the stoning punishment.<ref name=es8b>Elyse Semerdjian (2008), "Off the Straight Path": Illicit Sex, Law, and Community in Ottoman Aleppo, Syracuse University Press, {{ISBN|978-0815631736}}, pp. 23-25</ref>

===Hanbali===
[[Hanbali]] jurist [[Ibn Qudama]] states, "Muslim jurists are unanimous on the fact that stoning to death is a specified punishment for the married adulterer and adulteress. The punishment is recorded in number of traditions and the practice of Muhammad stands as an authentic source supporting it. This is the view held by all Companions, Successors and other Muslim scholars with the exception of Kharijites."<ref name="IslamOnline.net">{{cite web | author = IslamOnline.net | title = Stoning: Does It Have Any Basis in Shari'ah? | url = http://www.islamonline.net/servlet/Satellite?pagename=IslamOnline-English-Ask_Scholar/FatwaE/FatwaE&cid=1119503545902 | access-date = 2010-07-25 | archive-date = 2010-06-16 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20100616223242/http://www.islamonline.net/servlet/Satellite?pagename=IslamOnline-English-Ask_Scholar%2FFatwaE%2FFatwaE&cid=1119503545902 | url-status = dead }}</ref>

Hanbali Islamic law sentences all forms of consensual but religiously illegal sex as punishable with stoning. However, Hanbali scholars insist that homosexuality among men must be punished by beheading, instead of stoning as recommended by the Maliki [[madhab]] of Islam.<ref>Nisrine Abiad (2008), Sharia, Muslim States and International Human Rights Treaty Obligations, British Institute of International and Comparative Law, {{ISBN|978-1905221417}}, pp. 24-26</ref>

===Maliki===
[[Maliki]] school of jurisprudence ([[fiqh]]) holds that stoning is the required punishment for illegal sex by a married or widowed person, as well as for any form of homosexual relations among men.<ref name=nisrine/> [[Malik ibn Anas]], founded of Maliki fiqh, considered pregnancy in an unmarried woman as a conclusive proof of [[zina]]. He also stated that contested pregnancy is also sufficient proof of adultery and any Muslim woman who is pregnant by a man who she is not married to, at the time of getting pregnant, must be stoned to death.<ref name="osismuhsan"/><ref name="ReferenceA"/> Later Maliki Muslim scholars admitted the concept of "sleeping embryo", where a divorced woman could escape the stoning punishment, if she remained unmarried and became pregnant anytime within five years of her divorce, and it was assumed that she was impregnated by her previous husband but the embryo remained dormant for five years.<ref>{{cite book | last=McGarvey | first=Kathleen | title=Muslim and Christian women in dialogue : the case of northern Nigeria | publisher=Peter Lang | location=Oxford New York | year=2009 | isbn=978-3-03911-417-7 | pages=203–204}}</ref>

===Others===
All [[Sunni]] schools of fiqh, as well as Volume 7 of the [[Shi'ite]] hadith, ''The Book of Legal Penalties'' in [[Kitab al-Kafi]], declare stoning as the required punishment for sex that is not allowed under [[Sharia]].<ref>Ismail Poonwala (2004), The Pillars of Islam: Laws pertaining to human intercourse, Oxford University Press, Oxford University Press, pp. 448-457</ref>

In contrast to Sunni schools, Shia fiqh, in ''Rajm'' cases, allows some of the witnesses to be women but considers the witness of a woman as half as valid as a man's. Thus, before an accused is sentenced to stoning in the Shia system, the witnesses may be four men, three men and two women, two men and four women, one man and six women, but witnesses must include at least one man.<ref name=nisrine/>  Furthermore, Shi'i jurists grant discretionary powers to the judge in cases of homosexuality, to sentence the accused to death by sword, ''stoning'', death by throwing from a high wall, or burning the accused to death.<ref name=nisrine/>

==Views==
There is disagreement among modern Islamic thinkers as to the applicability of stoning for adultery.  While religious texts often give examples both with and without stoning, the [[Quran]] does not prescribe stoning as a punishment for any crime, mentioning only lashing as punishment for adultery. However most<ref name=eab/> scholars maintain that there is sufficient evidence from [[hadith]]s to derive a ruling. The vast majority of Muslims consider [[hadith]]s, which describe the words, conduct and example set by Muhammad during his life, as a source of law and religious authority second only to the Quran. They consider [[sahih]] hadiths to be a valid source of Sharia, justifying their belief on Quranic verse 33.21,<ref>{{cite quran|33|21|s=nosup}}</ref> and other verses.<ref>{{cite quran|3|32|s=nosup}}, {{cite quran|3|132|s=nosup}}, {{cite quran|4|59|s=nosup}}, {{cite quran|8|20|s=nosup}}, {{cite quran|33|66|s=nosup}}</ref><ref name=mqz>Muhammad Qasim Zaman (2012), Modern Islamic Thought in a Radical Age, Cambridge University Press, {{ISBN|978-1107096455}}, pp. 30-31</ref><ref>Neal Robinson (2013), Islam: A Concise Introduction, Routledge, {{ISBN|978-0878402243}}, Chapter 7, pp. 85-89</ref>

The reliability of Hadith is disputed by [[Quranist]] Muslims who reject all hadith, and as a consequence the stoning punishment as well.

[[Enayatullah Asad Subhani]] argues that stoning is not the punishment of the fornication, as generally been understood, and it is not among the ''Hudood'' either.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Subhani|first1=Mohd. Enayatullah|title=Haqeeqat-e-Rajm|date=1996|publisher=Idara ehyae deen|location=India|page=230|edition=1st|url=http://www.islamicvoice.com/april.99/dialogue.htm|access-date=2018-02-16|archive-date=2018-02-15|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180215053726/http://islamicvoice.com/april.99/dialogue.htm|url-status=dead}}</ref>  His book ''Haqiqat-i Rajm'' was widely criticized by the ulama as he had tried to clear doubts against the punishments prescribed by Islam for different crimes.<ref>{{cite web|last1=Ubaidurrahman|first1=s|title=Apostasy does not carry death penalty in Islam|url=http://www.milligazette.com/Archives/01042002/0104200205.htm|website=the Milli Gazette|access-date=2018-02-16}}</ref> 
The Islamic modernist [[Javed Ahmad Ghamidi]] postulates that Quranic verses prescribe stoning only for those who habitually commit fornication as prostitutes do, which then constitute "mischief in the land" that is punishable by death according to Quranic verses 5:33-34.<ref>[[Javed Ahmed Ghamidi]], ''[[Mizan]]'', [http://www.renaissance.com.pk/septfeart2y2.html The Penal Law of Islam] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070127184245/http://www.renaissance.com.pk/septfeart2y2.html |date=2007-01-27 }}, [[Al-Mawrid]]; {{Cite quran|5|33|end=34|style=nosup}}</ref> This view is not popular and does not enjoy acceptance by most ulema.

==See also==
*[[Repentance in Islam]]
*[[Sharia]]
*[[Hirabah]]
*[[Stoning]]
*[[Stoning of the Devil]]
*''[[The Stoning of Soraya M.]]'' ([[Soraya Manutchehri]])

==References==
{{Reflist|30em}}

==Sources==
*{{cite book|last1=Kadri|first1=Sadakat|title=Heaven on Earth: A Journey Through Shari'a Law from the Deserts of Ancient Arabia to the Streets of the Modern Muslim World |date=2012|publisher=Macmillan|isbn=9780099523277|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ztCRZOhJ10wC}}

==External links==
{{commons category|Stonings}}
*[http://www.irfi.org/articles/articles_151_200/opposing_rajm.htm Opposing ''rajm''], Ibrahim B. Syed
*[http://www.irfi.org/articles/articles_51_100/stoning_to_death_does_not_appear.htm Stoning to death does not appear in the Qur’an]
*[http://understanding-islam.com/related/text.asp?type=question&qid=394 Stoning to Death]
*[http://understanding-islam.com/related/text.asp?type=question&qid=389 Punishment of Rajam]
*[http://www.quranicpath.com/misconceptions/adultery_punishment.html Stoning to Death:  A Violation of the Qur'an]

[[Category:Islam-related controversies]]
[[Category:Islamic criminal jurisprudence]]
[[Category:Islam and violence]]
[[Category:Islam and capital punishment]]
[[Category:Islamic terminology]]
[[Category:Deaths by stoning]]