some scholars hold that the prescribed punishment is waived, while others hold that it is not.

A muhsan is a man who, while free and legally accountable, has had vaginal intercourse, even once, with a woman whom he married under a valid marriage contract. Must the woman share these qualifications with the man? Scholars hold two views on this. Does a girl approaching puberty confer this status upon an adult man, and vice versa?

Non-Muslims living under Muslim protection may also have muhsan status according to most scholars, including al-Shāfi‘ī and Ahmad, because the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, stoned two Jews at the entrance to his mosque. This was the first stoning in Islam.

Scholars differ concerning a woman who is found to be pregnant, has neither husband nor master, and alleges no legally excusing circumstance surrounding her pregnancy. There are two views within the school of Ahmad and elsewhere. One holds that she is not subject to the prescribed punishment, since she may have conceived through forced intercourse, the introduction of semen without intercourse, or intercourse involving a legal uncertainty. The other holds that she is subject to the prescribed punishment. This is the position transmitted from the Rightly Guided Caliphs, accords more closely with the principles of Islamic law, and is the position of the scholars of Medina. Rare possibilities are disregarded, just as the possibility that she or the witnesses may be lying is disregarded.

As for anal intercourse between men, some scholars hold that its prescribed punishment is the same as that for unlawful sexual intercourse. It has also been said that its punishment is less severe. The correct view, upon which the Companions agreed, is that both men—the active and the passive partner—are to be put to death, whether they are muhsan or not. For the compilers of the Sunan narrated from Ibn