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"Stoning is in Conflict with Qur'anic Injunction"

by
 Imam Alauddin Shabazz, Ph.D.
Member,
Islamic Research Foundation International, Inc.
7102 W. Shefford Lane

Louisville, KY 40242-6462, USA

E-mail:
IRFI@INAME.COM
Website: 
http://WWW.IRFI.ORG

 

 

No one can negate the au­thenticity of the heading to this article. 

Those who rejected the lucid unequivocal Qur’anic decree regarding the punishment for adultery and fornication evi­dently places more trust in Ahadith of questionable men than Al Qur’an, which is the authentic ahadith of Allah Ta’Ala (Qur’an 39:23) and Bukhari (adab 70). 

Allah states in Qur’an (56:77-79) that it is guarded and that no crookedness can be found in it (Qur’an 18:1-54). Surely Al­lah Ta’Ala speaks the truth. This isn’t the case of other books, including Bukhari and Muslim ahadith; they also con­tain questionable ahadith. 

For more than 45 years now, I’ve been a serious student of Qur’an, Ahadith and Islamic history in general. I have pe­rused all nine volumes of Ahadith by Bukhari and all four by Muslim, along with the ahadith of lesser credible schol­ars.  

I concur with Imam W. Deen Mohammed that “many ahadith need to be burned up and many others need to be interpreted.” Having studied the Hanafis, Shafis, Malikis, Hanabalis, Wahabis, Ahmadiyyah, and Shi’a schools of “so-called” Islamic thought, I’ve found mistakes in them all. 

There are hits and misses in all these schools of thought and this reality necessitates more thoughts on subjects concluded by Muslim scholars of the past. Where do we start? (See Qur’an 7:52) 

Al-Qur’an is the base of Is­lamic law, and it imparts clear directives regarding the moral crime of adultery and fornica­tion (24:2/4:25) surely Allah speaks the truth. No one who claims that stoning to death is Islamic can provide one iota of support, from the Holy Qur’an. When Allah Ta’Ala gives a decree as lucid as the injunction imparted in (24: 2-4), there is no need to go to any other authority 

Ahadith is consulted on Qur'anic citations that's not clear or evident. That which is clear needs no support.  Any ahadith that conflicts with Qur'anic injunctions, any that does not have the ring, spirit, flavor of Qur’an in it should be regarded as pseudo. Allah warns us in Qur’an (3 1:6-7) against false and vain Ahadith

               read the Arabic. 

All that is printed in Bukhari and Muslim Ahadith isn’t sound just because some remote ijmaa said it was. To quote Bro. Isa Abdul-Matin of Philadelphia: “We realize that only Allah is incapable of mistakes.” This in­cluded the reporters of Ahadith; they made mistakes. Mududi made mistakes; Sayed Qutb made mistakes, and others ditto. 

All of the Muslim jurists from the Companions of Nabi Muhammad to the jurists of the 9th Century did not have a consensus (ijmaa) that ston­ing to death of adulterers is required by Allah. How could they, when the actual words of Allah (Qur’an) do not contain any inkling, not even an in­kling, of such? 

If Allah’s Messenger (SAW) said, ”By the     one in whose hand is my soul that I will decide between you with the Scrip­ture of Allah,” then such deci­sion is in the “Scripture” of Allah. I want someone to cite that “scripture”; I can’t find it. 

One Qur’anic Muslim scholar, Bashir Al-Din Mu­hammad, states regarding stoning: “The misconceptions seems to be due to a few cases recorded in hadith where mar­ried persons, guilty of adul­tery were stone to death by the order of the Holy Prophet. One of the few cases was that of a Jew and Jewess who were stoned to death in accordance with the Mosaic Law (not Is­lamic Law). 

“It was invariably the Holy Prophet’s practice that he abided by the law of the Torah in deciding cases, till a new commandment was revealed to him.” It seems that in cases in which the guilty person was stoned to death, the crime was committed before the revela­tion of this verse, 24:3.” We suggest the readers peruse Hadith Bukhari Volume 8, number 824 and number 825. 

He goes on to say. “...It is simply inconceivable that the Holy Prophet should have contravened the quite clear and unequivocal Divine Commandment in this respect." 

Aisha (RA), one of the wives of Prophet Muhammad (SAW), said

That he lived the Qur'an. He actualized its contents. He said in one hadith …, "give up my words for the Words of Allah.” No sane Mu’min will ac­cept anything in ahadith that is in flagrant conflict with the Holy Qur’an (2:2-3: 78, 17: 9-71). The Holy Qur’an is an Imam. 

Ahadith do not abrogate Qur’an. The Qur’an is superior to all that is in Bukhari and Muslim ahadith. The Qur’an, remember, warns Muslims against false and vain ahadith (31: 6-7), and Allah Himself states that Al-Qur’an is the best ahadith (36:23)! Allah speaks the truth. 

When we use ahadith litera­ture, we should take to its logi­cal conclusion. Evidence in ahadith (Bukhari) clearly claims that Hazrat Umar (RA) didn’t stone all adulterers to death why not? Neither did Prophet Mohammed (SAW)….

See “Selections from Mishkat ul-Musabih,” 20, 21, 22, 23, and 24. 

The hadith (Bukhari vol. 8, no. 816, page 539) in which Omar (RA) is recorded as say­ing, in effect; that a verse re­vealed to Nabi Muhammad (SAW) is omitted from the con­tents of Qur’an is dubious. 

In Qur’an (4:25) punishment for adultery of a married slave girl is cited clearly; can some­one please explain to me how one half of a crime (the woman) only gets sentenced to death? Another point is, if the guilty are to be stoned to death, verse 3 of chapter 24 is useless for people “stone to death” cannot get married.

 We must be careful of what we read in Ahadith, brothers and sisters. Ponder Al-Qur’an (4:15-16/2:142-144-145-149-150). Think! Think! And rea­son! (Qur’an 47:24/16:64)

Nabi Muhammad (SAW) said, according to hadith and attested by history, “100 years from me the ummah would not be of me.” He also said in the only 100 percent sound Hadith, Qur’an (25:30), that the ummah would “forsake the Holy Qur’an.”

There would be no need for a mujeddid, if the four estab­lished schools of Islamic thought were correct across the board. They are not. The greatest gift of Allah imparted to human beings was the qualification to reason, so said Prophet Muhammad (SAW). 

Muslims of today must question the consensus of yesterday's Muslims to see if said was/is really Islamically sound. This is a must. There is much printed in. so-called “sound” ahadith that is abso­lutely unsound and insulting to the merits of Nabi Muhamed's example. There are also ahadith that are allegorical. 

Stoning is in Al Qur’an, but no where is stoning connected to the physical acts of adultery or fornication. Stoning, in Ara­bic, “rajama,” is the verb and “rjm” the root; “rajim is the adjective form. It means: to stone, a missile, guess work, gushing, accursed, damned.. See Qur’an (11:91/18:20/67; 5/ 3:36/15:17/16:98/38:77), etc., for examples of its - employ­ment. 

Allah says in A1-Qur’an (68:44): “Then leave Me alone with such as (68:44) this hadith” (meaning the Holy Qur’an itself). Prophet Muhammed would never go against Al-Qur’an. Ponder Bukhari, Adab 70.  

Stoning has more meaning than merely killing someone with bricks, rocks, etc. As in­telligent Muslims, we must be aware of the negative innova­tion inserted amidst authentic ahadith by Jacubites who worked themselves into the ummah and ulema circle to mislead the believers via false reports (ahadith) under the cap­tion of “... the Holy Prophet said.” 

Imam W. Deen Mohammed said years ago that many ahadith were written with “Jucubite fingers.” Ponder Al­-Qur’an (5:44-45-80-83). 

Nabi Muhammed (SAW) judged Jews out of their book, (5:46-47) Christians out of their book (5:50), and Muslims out of Qur’an (5:51-52). This is the Sunnah of Allah. The report in Bukhari/Muslim regarding the stoning of a Jewish woman was in accord with Qur’anic rev­elation to judge Jews with their own scripture! It was Jewish law, not Islamic law! Qur’an is the Divine Book of scriptural correction.      

We appreciate all intended constructive criticism on this article regarding stoning. How­ever, we continue to stand on Qur’anic revelation in opposi­tion to what is alleged that the Prophet (SAW) said that is opposite to Qur’anic decree. 

Like his wife, Aisha (RA), I reject candidly any report that Prophet Muhammed actual­ized anything that was/is in conflict with the Holy Qur’an. 

As Muslims we have the free­dom to differ with each other. Al-Qur’an (4:59) tells us what to do (note the syntax) when we differ and the end of it all (Qur’an 10:41). May Allah bless us all with true iman (faith), authentic devotion to His Word, and adherence to the defacto Sunnah of His Last Messenger and Prophet to all humanity, Muhammed ibn Abdullah (SAW). Amin. - -

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