You explained that according to the verse 5:32,the death penalty is applicable only for crimes - murder and causing corruption in the land. Based on this verse, you said that stoning to death for adultery is not correct. I would like to ask few more questions on this.

1) According to your opinion, the punishment of apostasy, punishment for polytheist after the coming of Rasool is death penalty. Is this not contradicting the condition that the death penalty is applicable for the above-mentioned two crimes? 2) I asked a scholar regarding verse 5:32, he explained me that the verse mentions only in generality and the Prophet(pbuh)'s punishment of death penalty for various crimes as reported in Hadith falls under "causing corruption" category. Do you agree with his explanation?.

Regards

Please first let me make your quoting me a bit more accurate:

I did not make the general comment that "stoning to death for adultery is not correct". I only explained that the Shari'ah has not prescribed death as a punishment for adultery (but has introduced 100 lashes as the punishment, as very explicitly mentioned in 24:2).

Answers to your questions follow:

1. No, it is not in contradiction. These are two completely different categories of punishment. Up to this point we were discussing punishments of people that were in place to maintain the goodness, health and organisation of a Muslim society. These rulings are those that (if applicable) are to be practiced by the ruling government of a Muslim country at any time. In a completely different category, we have God's punishment in this world for those who reject the clear truth as it is brought to them by a messenger or the collectivity of his true followers. Sometimes this punishment is carried out by means of people (like at the time of our Prophet, as referred to in verse 9:13) and sometimes it is carried out directly by God or his angels as we read about it in numerous places in the Qur'an. Punishment of the polytheists at the time of the Prophet (pbuh) falls into this category.

2. The respected scholar that you have consulted with has said: "the Prophet (pbuh)'s punishment of death penalty for various crimes as reported in Hadith falls under "causing corruption" category".

Of course I agree with the above. This is exactly what was explained in the last reply where it reads:

"According to our understanding, these ahadith are describing the punishment of death for a crime that was considered as Fasad Fil Ardh. These ahadith are therefore inline with the directives of Al Ma'idah 5:32-33. For details please refer to Punishment of Rajam (i.e. Stoning to Death in case of adultery)."

Fasad Fil Ardh is what the scholar has referred to as "causing corruption".

Abdullah Rahim
March 18, 2006