Rajm

The Arabic word “rajm” comes from the verb “rajama” ( Arabic: رَجَمَ - stoning; cursing; chasing away; speculating, speculating) and means - stoning; a curse.

The prerequisite for the use of Rajma is common sense, adulthood ( balig ) and the ease of adultery. The Rajma sentence is passed only by a Sharia judge. In the Hanafi and Malikite madhhab, this punishment measure is also not applied against non-Muslims ( kafirs ) ^[1] . Those who at the time of committing adultery or before him (divorced, widows) were not married, then they are punished with one hundred blows with lashes (slaves - fifty) with exile for a period of one year (slaves - six months) ^[2] .

In order to prove the fact of adultery in court, the evidence of four witnesses, or a fourfold confession of adultery of the adulter or adulter, is necessary. According to the Shafiite and Malikite madhhab, one admission of adultery is enough. The punishment in the form of stoning applies to married people and those who were once married. If an adulterer or adulterer at the time of committing sin was not married, then they are beaten with sticks, or other types of punishment (tazir) are used. In the Qur'an, the word rajm does not occur, but in the collections of hadiths there are facts that the Prophet Muhammad used rajm against a certain Maiz ^[3] and a woman of Hamidia ^[4] . And in one of the hadiths, the words of the Righteous Caliph Umar are quoted that Rajm was mentioned in the Qur'an, but was eventually canceled ( Mansuh ) for reading as a Qur'anic ^[1] . It says:

Allah truly chose Muhammad  ﷺ   as truth and the Scripture sent him. And from that sent by Allah was a verse about stoning. And we read it, and understood it, and kept it. The Messenger of Allah   ﷺ   stoned, and after him we stoned. And I am afraid that such a time will come, and someone will say, by Allah, that we do not find a verse about stoning in the Book of Allah, whereas (verse) about stoning in the book of Allah is the truth (applied) by adultery in marriage.

Original text (ar.)

رسول الله ﷺ إن الله قد بعث محمدا ﷺ بالحق وأنزل عليه الكتاب فكان مما أنزل عليه آية الرجم قرأناها ووعيناها وعقلناها فرجم رسول الله ﷺ ورجمنا بعده فأخشى إن طال بالناس زمان أن يقول قائل ما نجد الرجم في كتاب الله فيضلوا بترك فريضة أنزلها الله وإن الرجم في كتاب الله حق على من زنز إذا أحصن من الرجال والنساء إذا قامت البينة أو كان الحبل أو الاعتراف

- Muslim “Sahih”, Khudud, 15

• Ali-zade A. A. Rajm // Islamic Encyclopedic Dictionary . - M .: Ansar , 2007 .-- 400 p. - (The Golden Fund of Islamic Thought). - ISBN 5-98443-025-8 .
• Bogolyubov A.S. Zina // Islam: Encyclopedic Dictionary / Otv. ed. S. M. Prozorov . - M .: Science , GDVL , 1991 . - S. 78. - ISBN 5-02-016941-2 .