Stoning to death is against Islam

Source: http://islamicmyths.wordpress.com/2008/01/23/stoning-to-dead-is-against-islam/

The Stoning sentence is exclusive for the Torah which law only applies to Jews:

Old testament [21.21] And all the men of his city shall stone him with stones, so that he die. So shalt thou put evil away from among you, and all Israel shall hear and fear.

God says in Quran that Quran is the new law because the Gospel and Tora were corrupted by men.

[05:49]Judge thou between them by what Allah hath revealed, and follow not their vain desires, but beware of them lest they beguile thee from any of that (teaching) which Allah.

The day when the prescribed penalty for the sin of adultery and fornication was revealed by Allah through His Messenger Muhammad (s.a.s.), all the past Traditions, Rulings, Examples and Directives from the Prophet and/or from all other individuals or societies do stand repealed permanently. To propagate otherwise, would be to place the “Human Law” above the “Law of Allah”, which in Islam is regarded as an unpardonable sin.

STONING TO DEATH IN SAHIH AL-BUKHARI

Below are the three narrations on the penalty of stoning, from the famous book of the Prophetic Traditions and Narrations known as Sahih Al-Bukhari:

Hadith No. 4.829: When a Jew and a Jewess who had committed the illegal sexual intercourse were brought before the Prophet (s.a.s.), he ordered them to be punished according to their Jewish laws that are recorded in the Torah. The couple was stoned to death. This Hadith was narrated by Abdullah bin Umar.

Hadith No. 8.805: A married man from the tribe of Bani Aslam who had committed illegal sexual intercourse and bore witnesses four times against himself was ordered by the Prophet (s.a.s) to be stoned to death.

This Hadith was narrated by Jabir bin Abdullah Al-Ansari.

Hadith No. 8.804: Ash Shaibani narrates that when he asked ‘Abdullah bin Abi Aufa; “Did Allah’s Apostle carry out the penalty of Rajam (i.e., stoning to death)?” He said, “Yes”. When the narrator asked; “Before the revelation of Surah-an-Nur or after it?” He replied, “I don’t know.”

This Hadith is narrated by Ash Shaibani and is repeated one more time under Hadith No. 8: 824

QUR’AN VERSUS HADITH

The Surah-an-Nur (i.e. Chapter 24 of the Qur’an, in which the penalty of flogging is prescribed) was Revealed in or after the sixth year of Prophet’s migration from Mekkah to the city of Medinah. This is confirmed by verses 11 to 20. It is inconceivable that the Prophet, who has been declared by Allah as the best of the examples for Muslims, could have dictated his own edict after the revelation of Surah-an-Nur, which was delivered to mankind through him.

Allah’s Law permits the guilty person to live and remarry (see below). No one has the authority to deprive that God given privilege…

“Let no man guilty of adultery or fornication marry any, but a woman similarly guilty, or an Unbeliever, nor let any but such a man or an Unbeliever marry such a woman: To the Believers such a thing is forbidden“. Qur’an Surah-an-Nur (24) verse 3.

(This verse 3, follows the verse number 2 in which the penalty is prescribed and it emphasizes the fact that THERE IS NO DEATH PENALTY).

I have only selected few things, those who are interested can go through the link I have provided in the beginning.

Stoning to death

The question is: Does religion prescribe the punishment of stoning for adultery? The Holy Quran does not prescribe stoning as the punishment for adultery. There is not a single verse in the Quran that mentions the punishment of Rajm. However, the Jewish answer to the question is of course yes. The Old Testament explicitly depicts various adulterous sexual acts & prescribes that those indulging be “put to death.” (Leviticus 20:10-21)

The Arabic word rajm/rajama is similar to the Hebrew word ragam, which means ‘to collect or cast stones.’ But Muslims cling to the punishment of rajm. Naturally the question arises: Why are some Muslims following the Jewish practice & prescribe stoning as the punishment for the sin of adultery? There is not a single verse within the revealed verses of the Quran wherein the penalty of "Stoning to Death” is prescribed by God, for any crime or sin.

Zina includes sexual intercourse between a man and a woman not married to each other. It therefore applies both to adultery (which implies that one or both of the parties are married to a person or persons other than the ones concerned) and to fornication, which, in its strict signification, implies that both parties are unmarried.

Allah's Supreme Law, in Surah Nur (24):

“A Surah which We have sent down and which We have ordained: In it have We sent down Clear Signs, in order that ye may receive admonition.” 24: 1

“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.” 24: 2

As we can see…Rajm (stoning to death) is no where mentioned in the Quran. In fact, it contradicts Quranic verses. Haidth which mentions this mode of punishment are very ambiguous and if there is Hadith which contradicts the Quranic injuction must be rejected as inauthentic. It is clearly mentioned in the Quran that punishment of the Married slave women (who was slave before getting married) would half that of a married free woman. So it is evident that there can be no half of "stoning to death”. Punishment for the adultery is 100 lashes which is clearly mentioned in the Quran and there is distinction of married or unmarried there.

We must bear in mind that it’s the Quran that is primary source of Islamic laws and not Hadith especially when it contradicts the categorical Quranic injunction. Holy Prophet(PBUH) himself has said that if you find anything in the Hadith that contradicts the Quran, throw that Hadith on the Wall. And Hadith were compiled 200 years after the death of the Holy Prophet (PBUH).