Chapter: The Prescribed Punishment for Fornication

If a previously married fornicator commits fornication, he is to be stoned until he dies, …

His statement, “Chapter: The prescribed punishment for fornication,” means: the chapter concerning its punishment. Fornication is the commission of a sexual indecency through the front or rear private part. Sexual indecency is every unlawful act of intercourse, because unlawful intercourse is an abominable indecency according to every sound mind. There is no human being whose mind does not find this reprehensible act abhorrent—except one whose reason Allah has stripped away and whose natural disposition He has perverted. Such a person may find this evil agreeable, like the dung beetle, which relishes the smell of excrement but may die from the scent of roses. Ibn al-Wardī (d. 749 AH) said:

“The fragrance of roses is harmful to the dung beetle.”

Thus, although the rose is among the finest of things, the dung beetle dislikes its scent when it smells it, whereas its attraction to the smell of excrement is exceedingly strong.

His statement, “If a previously married fornicator commits fornication, he is to be stoned until he dies”: “commits fornication” is the conditional clause, and “is to be stoned” is its consequence—that is, he is stoned with rocks. The stones must not be so large that they kill him immediately, nor so small that they cause him no pain or harm. Rather, they should be about the size of an egg or smaller. We have learned that the head, face, private parts, and vital areas are to be avoided. He is struck with stones until he dies. What, then, is the evidence for this manner of execution, which some people may find repugnant?

The evidence is found in the Book of Allah, the sunnah of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ, and the practice of the Rightly Guided Caliphs and rightly guided imams.