Chapter on the ḥadd for zinā

The jurists—may Allah have mercy on them—state that the ḥadd for zinā may be carried out only in the presence of the ruler or his deputy, and that a group of believers must also witness the punishment, in keeping with the Almighty’s command: “And let a group of the believers witness their punishment” (Q 24:2).

Zinā is among the gravest crimes, yet even within it there are degrees of atrocity: committing it with a married woman, with a woman who is a close relative and therefore permanently forbidden, or with one’s neighbor’s wife are counted among its most heinous forms.

Because zinā is a major crime and a flagrant sin—leading to the confusion of lineage, which erases mutual recognition and the ability to support one another in truth, and bringing ruin to both cultivation and progeny—Allah has attached to it a severe penalty: stoning the adulterer with stones until death, or flogging him and banishing him from his homeland. These measures exist to deter people from the act and to shield society from the diseases that spread through it.

For this reason the Lawgiver issued the strongest prohibition, saying: “Do not even come near zinā; it is truly an outrage and an evil path” (Q 17:32). He then prescribed for its perpetrator this painful punishment.