—reported by al-Tirmidhi and others—“that the Prophet ﷺ administered flogging and banishment, that Abu Bakr administered flogging and banishment, and that ʿUmar administered flogging and banishment.” The Prophet ﷺ also said, “When an unmarried man fornicates with an unmarried woman, the punishment is one hundred lashes and exile for a year.”

If the adulterer is a slave, he is to be given fifty lashes, for Allah the Exalted says concerning bondwomen: “When they have been married, if they then commit indecency, upon them is half the punishment prescribed for free married women” (Quran 4:25). This ruling applies equally to male and female slaves. The punishment mentioned in the Noble Quran is flogging. As for stoning, although it too was mentioned in the Quran, its wording and recitation were abrogated while its legal force remained.

There is no banishment for slaves, because that would harm their owner, and because the Sunnah contains no report of exiling a slave who commits zinā. The Prophet ﷺ said regarding a slave girl who is not muḥṣan: “If she commits zinā, flog her; and if she commits it again, flog her again,” and he made no mention of banishment.

The ḥadd is not carried out unless the intercourse is free of legal doubt, for the Prophet ﷺ said, “Ward off the prescribed penalties whenever you can find a doubt.” Therefore, no ḥadd applies to one who has intercourse with a woman