When they began to pelt her with stones he said, “This is not how stoning is done; I fear some of you may strike others. Rather, form ranks as you line up for the prayer.”

He then added, “Stoning is of two kinds: a private stoning and a public one. If it rests on a confession, the imam throws first, followed by the people. If it rests on testimony, the witnesses throw first, then the imam, then the people.”

Mālik and Abū Ḥanīfah hold that no pit is dug for the person who is to be stoned. Al-Shāfiʿī left the matter to choice, and another report from him states that a pit is dug only for a woman. Their chief proof is the ḥadīth recorded by al-Bukhārī and Muslim from Jābir, who said: “We stoned him at the open prayer-ground; when the stones became too much for him he fled, but we caught up with him at al-Harrah and crushed him with stones.” Muslim also reports that on the fourth day a pit was dug for him. In short, the narrations on this point are at variance. Aḥmad remarked, “Most of the ḥadīths indicate that no pit is dug.”

Mālik maintains that, in carrying out the ḥudūd, the lashes are directed to the back and the areas near it. Abū Ḥanīfah and al-Shāfiʿī allow the blows to be applied to all limbs while avoiding the genital area and the face; Abū Ḥanīfah further adds the head to what must be avoided. According to Mālik the man is stripped of his upper garment for every ḥadd; according to al-Shāfiʿī and Abū Ḥanīfah he is stripped in all of them except the ḥadd for slander, as will be mentioned later. The majority stipulate that he be flogged sitting and not standing, contrary to those who require him to stand, citing the outward sense of the verse.

All agree that it is recommended for the ruler to summon a number of people to witness the enforcement of the ḥudūd, in view of the Almighty’s words,

“And let a group of the believers witness their punishment” (Q 24:2).

They differ, however, over what number is meant by the term “group.” Mālik says four; others say three; others two; still others seven; and some say any number above that.

As for timing, the majority hold that the punishment is not carried out in extreme heat or cold, nor upon one who is ill. Another group—including Aḥmad and Isḥāq—permit it, arguing from the report that ʿUmar enforced the ḥadd on Qudāmah while the latter was sick.

The root of the disagreement lies in the tension between the plain wording of the texts and the underlying purpose of the ḥadd, which is to apply it only when the executor does not judge the offender’s death likely. Those who focused on the unqualified command to establish the ḥudūd said the sick person must still be punished; those who considered the underlying purpose said the sick person is not punished until he recovers—and the same applies in oppressive heat or cold.

Chapter Three: The Means by Which This Heinous Act Is Proven

The scholars unanimously agree that zinā is established either by confession or by testimony. They differ, however, over whether it is established by the appearance of pregnancy in an unmarried woman who claims she was forced, and they likewise disagree over the conditions governing confession and testimony.