until he wakes,” recorded by the compilers of the Sunan and others. Now, if the acts of worship are not obligatory upon such persons, then the prescribed punishment is even more deserving of suspension, for they are not legally accountable and because any doubt serves to avert a ḥadd.

Condition Two: The perpetrator must be aware that the act is forbidden; no ḥadd is applied to someone who is ignorant of its prohibition. ʿUmar, ʿUthmān, and ʿAlī (may Allah be pleased with them) said, “No ḥadd except upon the one who knows it,” and no Companion is known to have disagreed. Al-Muwaffaq Ibn Qudāmah stated, “This is the view of the scholars.”

Once these conditions are met in the offender whose crime warrants a prescribed punishment, the ḥadd is to be carried out by the ruler or his deputy. The Prophet ﷺ himself enforced the ḥudūd, and after him his successors continued to do so. He also deputised others to implement a ḥadd on his behalf, as when he said, “Anīs, go to this man’s wife; if she confesses, stone her.” He ordered the stoning of Māʿiz without attending it, and concerning a thief he said, “Take him away and cut off his hand.” … Moreover, enforcing a ḥadd requires juristic discernment, and one cannot feel secure in it