Prescribed Punishments (Kitab Al-Hudud)

كتاب الحدود

Chapter 20: The thief who steals repeatedly

Narrated Jabir ibn Abdullah

A thief was brought to the Prophet (ﷺ). He said: Kill him. The people said: He has committed theft, Messenger of Allah! Then he said: Cut off his hand. So his (right) hand was cut off. He was brought a second time and he said: Kill him. The people said: He has committed theft, Messenger of Allah! Then he said: Cut off his foot.

So his (left) foot was cut off.

He was brought a third time and he said: Kill him.

The people said: He has committed theft, Messenger of Allah!

So he said: Cut off his hand. (So his (left) hand was cut off.)

He was brought a fourth time and he said: Kill him.

The people said: He has committed theft, Messenger of Allah!

So he said: Cut off his foot. So his (right) foot was cut off.

He was brought a fifth time and he said: Kill him.

So we took him away and killed him. We then dragged him and cast him into a well and threw stones over him.

Chapter 21: Hanging the thief's hand around his neck

'Abd al-Rahman b. Muhariz said

We asked Fadalah b. 'Ubaid about the hanging the (amputated) hand on the neck of a thief whether it was a sunnan. He said: A thief was brought to the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) and his hand was cut off. Thereafter he commanded for it, and it was hung on his neck.

Chapter 22: Selling a slave if he steals

Narrated AbuHurayrah

The Prophet (ﷺ) as saying: When a slave steals, sell him, even though it be for half an uqiyah.

Chapter 23: Stoning

Ibn ‘Abbas said

The Qur’anic verse goes: “If any of your woman are guilty of lewdness, take the evidence of four (reliable) witnesses from amongst you against them, and if they testify, Confine them to houses until death do chain them or Allah ordains for them some (other) way. Allah then mentioned man after woman and combined them in another verse : “If two men among you are guilty of lewdness, punish them both. If they repent and amend, leave them alone. This command was abrogated by the verse relating to flogging : “The woman and the man guilty of adultery or fornication – flog each of them with one hundred stripes.

Mujahid said

Sufiyan said: “Punish them “refers to unmarried, and “confine them to houses” refers to the women who are married.

‘Ubadah b. al-Samit reported the Messenger of Allah(ﷺ) as sayings

Receive my teachings, receive my teachings. Allah has appointed a way for those women. If the parties have been married, they shall receive a hundred lashes and stoned to death. If the parties are unmarried, they shall receive a hundred lashes and banished for a year.

A similar tradition has been transmitted by al-Hasan through a chain of Yahya and to the same effect. This version adds

They shall receive a hundred lashes and toned to death.

Narrated Ubadah ibn as-Samit

The tradition mentioned above (No. 4401) has also been transmitted by Ubadah ibn as-Samit through a different chain of narrators.

This version has: The people said to Sa'd ibn Ubadah: AbuThabit, the prescribed punishments have been revealed: if you find a man with your wife, what will you do?

He said: I shall strike them with a sword so much that they become silent (i.e. die). Should I go and gather four witnesses? Until that (time) the need would be fulfilled.

So they went away and gathered with the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) and said: Messenger of Allah! did you not see AbuThabit. He said so-and-so.

The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) said: The sword is a sufficient witness. He then said: No, no, a furious and a jealous man may follow this course.

Abu Dawud said: This tradition has been transmitted by Waki' from al-Fadl b. Dilham from al-Hasan, from Qabisah b. Huraith, from Salamah b. al-Muhabbaq, from the Prophet (ﷺ). And this is the chain of the tradition narrated by Ibn al-Muhabbaq to the effect that a man had sexual intercourse with a slave girl of his wife.

Abu Dawud said: Al-Fadl b. Dilham was not the memoriser of traditions. He was a butcher in Wasit.

‘Abd Allah b. ‘Abbas said

‘Umar b. al-Khattab gave an address saying: Allah sent Muhammad (ﷺ) with truth and sent down the Books of him, and the verse of stoning was included in what He sent down to him. We read it and memorized it. The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) had people stoned to death and we have done it also since his death. I am afraid the people might say with the passage of time: We do not find the verse of stoning in the Books of Allah, and thus they stray by abandoning a duty which Allah had received. Stoning is a duty laid down (by Allah) for married men and women who commit fornication when proof is established, or if there is pregnancy, or a confession. I swear by Allah, had it not been so that the people might say: ‘Umar made an addition to Allah’s Book, I would have written it (there).

Chapter 24: Stoning of Ma'iz bin Malik

Narrated Nu'aym ibn Huzzal

Yazid ibn Nu'aym ibn Huzzal, on his father's authority said: Ma'iz ibn Malik was an orphan under the protection of my father. He had illegal sexual intercourse with a slave-girl belonging to a clan. My father said to him: Go to the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) and inform him of what you have done, for he may perhaps ask Allah for your forgiveness. His purpose in that was simply a hope that it might be a way of escape for him.

So he went to him and said: Messenger of Allah! I have committed fornication, so inflict on me the punishment ordained by Allah. He (the Prophet) turned away from him, so he came back and said: Messenger of Allah! I have committed fornication, so inflict on me the punishment ordained by Allah. He (again) turned away from him, so he came back and said: Messenger of Allah! I have committed fornication, so inflict on me the punishment ordained by Allah.

When he uttered it four times, the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) said: You have said it four times. With whom did you commit it?

He replied: With so and so. He asked: Did you lie down with her? He replied: Yes. He asked: Had your skin been in contact with hers? He replied. Yes. He asked: Did you have intercourse with her? He said: Yes. So he (the Prophet) gave orders that he should be stoned to death. He was then taken out to the Harrah, and while he was being stoned he felt the effect of the stones and could not bear it and fled. But Abdullah ibn Unays encountered him when those who had been stoning him could not catch up with him. He threw the bone of a camel's foreleg at him, which hit him and killed him. They then went to the Prophet (ﷺ) and reported it to him.

He said: Why did you not leave him alone. Perhaps he might have repented and been forgiven by Allah.

Narrated Jabir ibn Abdullah

Muhammad ibn Ishaq said: I mentioned the story of Ma'iz ibn Malik to Asim ibn Umar ibn Qatadah. He said to me: Hasan ibn Muhammad ibn Ali ibn AbuTalib said to me: Some men of the tribe of Aslam whom I do not blame and whom you like have transmitted to me the saying of the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ): Why did you not leave him alone?

He said: But I did not understand this tradition. So I went to Jabir ibn Abdullah and said (to him): Some men of the tribe of Aslam narrate that the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) said when they mentioned to him the anxiety of Ma'iz when the stones hurt him: "Why did you not leave him alone?' But I do not know this tradition.

He said: My cousin, I know this tradition more than the people. I was one of those who had stoned the man. When we came out with him, stoned him and he felt the effect of the stones, he cried: O people! return me to the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ). My people killed me and deceived me; they told me that the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) would not kill me. We did not keep away from him till we killed him. When we returned to the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) we informed him of it.

He said: Why did you not leave him alone and bring him to me? and he said this so that the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) might ascertain it from him. But he did not say this to abandon the prescribed punishment. He said: I then understood the intent of the tradition.

Narrated Abdullah ibn Abbas

Ma'iz ibn Malik came to the Prophet (ﷺ) and said that he had committed fornication and he (the Prophet) turned away from him. He repeated it many times, but he (the Prophet) turned away from him. He asked his people: Is he mad? They replied: There is no defect in him. He asked: Have you done it with her? He replied: Yes. so he ordered that he should be stoned to death. He was taken out and stoned to death, and he (the Prophet) did not pray over him.

Jabir b. Samurah said

I saw Ma’iz b. Malik when he was brought to the Prophet (ﷺ). He was a small and muscular man. He did not wear the loose outer garment. He made confession about him four times that he committed fornication. The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) said: Perhaps you kissed her. He said that this most discarded man has committed fornication. He said: So he had him stoned to death and gave an address, saying: Beware, whenever we go out on an expedition in the path of Allah, one of them (I.e. the people) lags behind with a bleating sound like that of a he-goat, and gives modicum of his milk(i.e. sperm) to one of the women. If Allah gives control over any of them, I shall deter him from them (i.e. women) by punishing him severely.

Simak said

I heard this tradition from Jabir b. Samurah. But the first version is more perfect. This version has: He repeated twice, Simak said: I narrated to Sa’id b. Jubair. He said: He repeated it four times.

Shu’bah said

I asked Simak about the meaning of KUTHBAH. He said: A small quantity of milk.

Ibn ‘Abbas said

The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) asked Ma’iz b. Malik : Is what I have heard about you is true? He said: What have you heard about me? He said: I have heard that you have had intercourse with a girl belonging to the family of so and so. He said: Yes. He then testified four times. He (The prophet) then gave order regarding him and he was stoned to death.

Narrated Abdullah ibn Abbas

Ma'iz ibn Malik came to the Prophet (ﷺ) and admitted fornication twice. But he drove him away. He then came and admitted fornication twice. But he drove him away. He then came and admitted fornication twice. He (the Prophet) said: You have testified to yourself four times. Take him away and stone him to death.

Narrated Abdullah ibn Abbas

The Prophet (ﷺ) said to Ma'iz ibn Malik: Perhaps you kissed, or squeezed, or looked. He said: No. He then said: Did you have intercourse with her? He said: Yes. On the (reply) he (the Prophet) gave order that he should be stoned to death. The narrator did not mention "on the authority of Ibn 'Abbas". This is Wahb's version.

Narrated AbuHurayrah

A man of the tribe of Aslam came to the Prophet (ﷺ) and testified four times against himself that he had had illicit intercourse with a woman, while all the time the Prophet (ﷺ) was turning away from him.

Then when he confessed a fifth time, he turned round and asked: Did you have intercourse with her? He replied: Yes. He asked: Have you done it so that your sexual organ penetrated hers? He replied: Yes. He asked: Have you done it like a collyrium stick when enclosed in its case and a rope in a well? He replied: Yes. He asked: Do you know what fornication is? He replied: Yes. I have done with her unlawfully what a man may lawfully do with his wife.

He then asked: What do you want from what you have said? He said: I want you to purify me. So he gave orders regarding him and he was stoned to death. Then the Prophet (ﷺ) heard one of his companions saying to another: Look at this man whose fault was concealed by Allah but who would not leave the matter alone, so that he was stoned like a dog. He said nothing to them but walked on for a time till he came to the corpse of an ass with its legs in the air.

He asked: Where are so and so? They said: Here we are, Messenger of Allah (ﷺ)! He said: Go down and eat some of this ass's corpse. They replied: Messenger of Allah! Who can eat any of this? He said: The dishonour you have just shown to your brother is more serious than eating some of it. By Him in Whose hand my soul is, he is now among the rivers of Paradise and plunging into them.

A similar tradition has also been transmitted by Abu Hurrairah through a different chain of narrators. This version adds

The narrator Hasan b. “All said: The transmitters have differed in the wordings (of this tradition) reported to me. Some said: He (Ma’iz) was tied to a tree, and others said: He was made to stand.