If a man who is not married is seized committing sodomy, he will be stoned to death.
Abu Dawud said: The tradition of 'Asim proved the tradition of 'Amir b. Abi 'Amr as weak.
Prescribed Punishments (Kitab Al-Hudud) - Sunan Abi Dawud 4463
The ruling concerning an unmarried man committing sodomy (liwat) is a matter of scholarly discussion. The majority of classical jurists from the Hanafi, Maliki, and Shafi'i schools hold that the punishment for sodomy is the same as for unlawful sexual intercourse (zina) - one hundred lashes for an unmarried person and stoning for a married person (muhsan). However, some scholars from the Hanbali school and others considered stoning applicable regardless of marital status due to the severity of the act.
Textual Analysis & Chain of Transmission
Abu Dawud's commentary indicates issues with the chain of narrators (isnad). The tradition of 'Asim weakened the tradition of 'Amir b. Abi 'Amr, suggesting this particular narration lacks the required authenticity standards for establishing definitive legal rulings.
Scholars emphasize that capital punishments require the highest standard of evidence and authentic, unambiguous texts. When chains of transmission are weakened or contradictory, the principle of giving doubt to the accused (shubha) takes precedence.
Legal Principles & Application
Islamic jurisprudence establishes that hudud punishments have strict evidentiary requirements - either four upright witnesses to the actual act or a valid confession without retraction.
Even when evidence exists, scholars historically exercised extreme caution in applying capital punishment, often seeking legal doubts (shubuhāt) to avert the hadd punishment when possible, in accordance with the Prophetic guidance to "Avert the legal punishments from Muslims as much as possible."