Stoning as Punishment in Early Islam

Abstract This project analyzes some of the contingencies that contributed to the beginnings of the process by which death by stoning/lapidation (rajm) became a standard punishment for illicit sexual intercourse (zinā) for certain types of Muslims according to the Islamic legal tradition. This study is conducted through a critical examination of the transmission history and corresponding textual content of key hadith alongside a review of procedural and substantive laws on zinā. The findings reveal that the hadith used to legitimize the capital punishment do not reflect actual historical events. The results indicate that during the revelatory period (610–632 ce), the stoning punishment was not applicable to Muslims and, after the death of the Prophet, there was no belief among Muslims that the stoning punishment was Islamic. The investigation offers new insights into the development of Islamic criminal law and the role of historical memory and context in the shaping of legal rulings that eventually are deemed to be normative.