baked clay, and crushed them? Did he not mention that the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, said: “Whomever you find committing the act of the people of Lot, kill both the one who does it and the one to whom it is done.” (1) This hadith is sound according to al-Bukhari’s criteria, although its authenticity may be disputed.

The correct view among these opinions is that its prescribed punishment is execution in all cases, whether the person is married or unmarried. However, the four previously mentioned general conditions for a prescribed punishment must be met: “sanity, adulthood, being subject to the law, and awareness of the prohibition.” Once these four general conditions are fulfilled, he is to be executed. The evidence for this is as follows:

First: the Prophet’s statement, peace and blessings be upon him: “Whomever you find committing the act of the people of Lot, kill both the one who does it and the one to whom it is done.”

Second: the Companions, may Allah be pleased with them, unanimously agreed that he is to be executed, as more than one scholar has related. They differed, however, over the manner of execution. Some held that he should be burned; this view is reported from Abu Bakr, Ali ibn Abi Talib, Abdullah ibn al-Zubayr, and Hisham ibn Abd al-Malik. (2)

Ibn Abbas, may Allah be pleased with him and his father, said: “Rather, one should seek out the highest”