2- If she falls into fornication repeatedly, is subjected to the ḥadd yet the lashes fail to deter her, then she must be sold even for the most meagre price, for there is no good in keeping her and no benefit in further disciplining her.

3- Adultery is deemed a defect in a slave; therefore, if a purchaser was unaware of it he has the option to return her.

4- A master may personally administer the ḥadd of lashing to his own slave, but capital punishment or amputation is the prerogative of the ruler. As for anyone who is not a slave, the ḥadd—whether lashing or any other form—may be carried out only by the ruler. This is the view held by the vast majority of scholars, among them the three Imams: Mālik, al-Shāfiʿī, and Aḥmad.

Hadith Four

Abū Hurayrah (may Allah be pleased with him) reported: “A man from among the Muslims came to the Messenger of Allah ﷺ while he was in the mosque and called out, ‘O Messenger of Allah, I have committed adultery.’ The Prophet turned away from him. The man moved to face him and said again, ‘O Messenger of Allah, I have committed adultery,’ but the Prophet turned away. He repeated this declaration four times. When he had borne witness against himself four times, the Messenger of Allah ﷺ summoned him and asked, ‘Are you insane?’ He replied, ‘No.’ He then asked, ‘Have you ever been married?’ He answered, ‘Yes.’ The Messenger of Allah ﷺ said, ‘Take him away and stone him.’”

Hadith Five

Ibn Shihāb narrated: Abū Salamah ibn ʿAbd al-Raḥmān told me that he heard Jābir ibn ʿAbdullāh (may Allah be pleased with him) say, “I was among those who stoned him; we stoned him at the place of prayer. When the stones began to wound him (1), he fled, but we caught up with him at al-Ḥarra and stoned him there.”

The man was Māʿiz ibn Mālik. His story was also transmitted by Jābir ibn Samurah, ʿAbdullāh ibn ʿAbbās, Abū Saʿīd al-Khudrī, and Buraydah ibn al-Ḥuṣayb al-Aslamī (2).

General meaning

Māʿiz ibn Mālik al-Aslamī (may Allah be pleased with him) came to the Prophet ﷺ while he was in the mosque and called out, confessing that he had committed adultery. The Prophet ﷺ turned away from him, hoping he might withdraw and repent privately to Allah. But Māʿiz, angry with himself and determined to purify his soul through the prescribed penalty, came directly in front of the Prophet again and repeated his confession. The Prophet ﷺ again turned away, until Māʿiz had testified against himself four times. At that point