Zaid b. Khalid told that he heard God’s Messenger giving command that an unmarried man who committed fornication should receive a hundred lashes and be banished for a year. Bukhari transmitted it.

Ibn ‘Abbas said that when Ma'iz b. Malik came to the Prophet (ﷺ) and he* said, “Perhaps you kissed, or squeezed, or looked,” he replied, “No, Messenger of God.” He then said, “Did you have intercourse with her?” asking the question in plain words, and when he replied that he had, he gave orders that he should be stoned to death. Bukhari transmitted it. * i.e. the Prophet. The tradition leaves it to be inferred that Ma'iz had confessed to committing fornication.

Buraida told that Ma'iz b. Malik came to the Prophet (ﷺ) and said, “Purify me, Messenger of God.” He replied, “Out upon you! Go back, ask God's forgiveness and turn to Him in repentance.” He said that he went back not very far, then came and said, “Purify me, Messenger of God,” and the Prophet (ﷺ) said the same as he had said before. When this went on till a fourth time he asked, “For what am I to purify you?” and he replied that it was because of fornication. God’s Messenger then asked if the man was mad, and when he was told that he was not, he asked if he had drunk wine. A man got up and smelt his breath but noticed no smell of wine, so the Prophet (ﷺ) asked him if he had committed fornication, and when he replied that he had, he gave orders regarding him and he was stoned to death. Two or three days later God’s Messenger came and said, “Ask forgiveness for Ma'iz b. Malik. He has repented to such an extent that if it were divided among a people it would be enough for them all.” Then a woman of Ghamid, a branch of Azd came to him and said, “Purify me, Messenger of God.” He replied, “Out upon you! Go back, ask God’s forgiveness and turn to Him in repentance.” She said, “Do you want to send me back as you did to Ma'iz b. Malik when I am 1 pregnant as a result of fornication?” He asked whether she was referring to herself, and when she replied that she was, he told her to wait till she had given birth to what was in her womb. One of the Ansar became responsible for her till she was delivered of a child, and then went to the Prophet (ﷺ) and told him that the woman of Ghamid had given birth to a child. He said, "In that case we shall not stone her and so leave her child as an infant with no one to suckle him.” One of the Ansar then got up and said, "I shall be responsible for his suckling, Prophet of God." He then had her stoned to death. A version says that he told her to go away till she gave birth to a child, then when she did, he told her to go away and suckle him till she had weaned him. When she had weaned him she brought the boy to him with a piece of bread in his hand and said, "I have weaned this one and he has eaten food." He (hen handed the boy over to one of the Muslims, and when he had given command regarding her and she was put in a hole up to her breast, he ordered the people to stone her. Khalid b. al-Walid came forward with a stone which he threw at her head, and when the blood spurted on his face he cursed her, but the Prophet (ﷺ) said, "Gently, Khalid, By Him in whose hand my soul is, she has repented to such an extent that if one who wrongfully takes an extra tax 2 were to repent to a like extent he would be forgiven." Then giving command regarding her, he prayed over her and she was buried. Muslim transmitted it. 1. The Arabic uses the third person, saying she was pregnant. It may be an explanatory phrase, but I have ventured to treat it as part of the woman's word since this makes the sentence read a little more easily. 2. Sahib maks. Maks was money taken from sellers in the market in pre-Islamic times; it is also used of something taken by a tax-collector over and above that is duo.

Ali said: You people must carry out the punishment on your slaves, those of them who are married and those who are not, for a slave woman belonging to God’s Messenger committed fornication and he ordered me to beat her. But she had recently given birth to a child and I was afraid that if I beat her I might kill her, so I mentioned that to the Prophet (ﷺ) and he said, “You have done well." Muslim transmitted it. In a version by Abd Dawud he said, “Leave her till her blood stops flowing and then carry out the punishment on her, and carry out* the punishment on your female slaves”. Abu Dawud. *Here the verb is plural.

Abu Huraira told that when Ma'iz al-Aslami came to God’s Messenger and said he had committed fornication he turned away from him. He then came round to the other side and said he had committed fornication, but he turned away from him. He came round again saying he had committed fornication, and when he said it a fourth time God’s Messenger gave command regarding him and he was taken out to the harra and stoned. When he felt the effect of the stones he ran away vigorously till he passed a man who had the jawbone of a camel with which he struck him, and the people struck him till he died. They then mentioned to God’s Messenger that he had fled when he felt the effect of the stones and the touch of death, and he said, “Why did you not leave him alone?” A version has, “Why did you not leave him alone? Perhaps he might have repented and been forgiven by God.” Tirmidhi and Ibn Majah transmitted it.

Yazid b. Nu'aim, on his father’s authority, told that Ma‘iz came to the Prophet (ﷺ) and confirmed the matter four times in his presence, so he ordered him to be stoned to death, but said to Hazzal, “If you had covered him with your garment it would have been better for you.” Ibn al-Munkadir said Hazzal had ordered Ma'iz to go to the Prophet and tell him. Abu Dawud transmitted it.

‘Amr b. Shu'aib, on his father’s authority, told that his grandfather, ‘Abdallah b. ‘Amr b. al-‘As, reported God’s Messenger as saying, “Forgive the infliction of prescribed penalties among yourselves, for any prescribed penalty of which I hear must be carried out.” Abu Dawud and Nasa’i transmitted it.

‘A’isha reported the Prophet (ﷺ) as saying, “Forgive the people of good qualities their slips, but not faults to which prescribed penalties apply.” Abu Dawud transmitted it.

She reported God’s Messenger as saying, “Avert the infliction of prescribed penalties on Muslims as much as you can, and if there is any way out let a man go, for it is better for a leader to make a mistake in forgiving than to make a mistake in punishing.” Tirmidhi transmitted it, saying it has been transmitted from her without tracing it to the Prophet, and that is sounder.

Wa’il b. Hujr said that when a woman was forced against her will in the time of God’s Messenger he averted the punishment from her but inflicted it on the one who had molested her. The transmitter did not mention that he appointed a dower to be paid her. Tirmidhi transmitted it.

He said that a woman went out in the time of the Prophet (ﷺ) to go to prayer, and a man who met her attacked her and got his desire of her. She shouted and he went off, and when a company of the Emigrants came by she said, “That man did such and such to me.” They seized the man and brought him to God’s Messenger who said to the woman, “Go away, for God has forgiven you,” but of the man who had had intercourse with her he said, “Stone him to death.” He also said, “He has repented to such an extent that if the people of Medina had repented similarly it would have been accepted from them.” Tirmidhi and Abu Dawud transmitted it.

Jabir said that a man committed fornication with a woman and the Prophet (ﷺ) gave command that he be given the appropriate beating, but on being told afterwards that the man was married he gave command that he should be stoned to death. Abu Dawud transmitted it.

Sa'id b. Sa'd b. ‘Ubada told that Sa'd b. ‘Ubada brought the Prophet (ﷺ) a man deficient in build and sick, a member of the clan, who had been found in the act of having illicit intercourse with a slave woman of theirs. The Prophet (ﷺ) said, “Get for him a stalk of the raceme of a palm-tree with a hundred twigs and strike him once.” It is transmitted in Sharh as-sunna; and there is something similar in Ibn Majah’s version.

‘Ikrima reported on the authority of Ibn ‘Abbas that God’s Messenger said, “If you find anyone doing as Lot’s people did, kill the one who does it and the one to whom it is done.” Tirmidhi and Ibn Majah transmitted it.

Ibn ‘Abbas reported God’s Messenger as saying, “If anyone has sexual intercourse with an animal, kill him and kill it along with him.” Ibn ‘Abbas was asked what offence could be attributed to the animal and replied, “I did not hear anything about that from God’s Messenger, but I think he disapproved of its flesh being eaten or of any use being made of it when such a thing had been done to it.” Tirmidhi, Abu Dawud and Ibn Majah transmitted it.

Jabir reported God’s Messenger as saying, “The thing I fear most for my people is what Lot’s people did.” Tirmidhi and Ibn Majah transmitted it.

Ibn ‘Abbas told that a man of B. Bakr b. Laith came to the Prophet (ﷺ) and made a statement four times that he had committed fornication with a woman, so he had a hundred lashes administered to him. The man had not been married. He then asked him to produce proof again the woman, and she said, “I swear by God, Messenger of God, that he has lied.” Then he was given the prescribed number of lashes for falsehood. Abu Dawud transmitted it.

Nafi' said he was informed by Safiya daughter of Abu ‘Ubaid that one of the Caliph’s slaves had intercourse with a girl who was among the fifth of the booty, forcing her to it against her will, and deflowered her. ‘Umar had him beaten but did not have her beaten because he had forced her against her will. Bukhari transmitted it.

Yazid b. Nu'aim b. Hazzal told on his father’s authority that Ma'iz b. Malik who was an orphan under his father's protection had intercourse with a slave girl belonging to the clan, so his father told him to go and inform God's Messenger what he had done, for he might perhaps ask forgiveness for him. His purpose in that was simply a hope that it might be a way of escape for him. He went to him and said, “Messenger of God, I have committed fornication, so inflict on me the punishment ordained by God.” He turned away from him, so he came back and said, “Messenger of God, I have committed fornication, so inflict on me the punishment ordained by God.” When he had said it four times God’s Messenger said, “You have said it four times. With whom did you commit it?” When he replied that it was with so and so he asked whether he had lain with her and he replied that he had. He asked whether his skin had been in contact with hers and he replied that it had. He then asked whether he had had intercourse with her and he replied that he had. He ordered him to be stoned to death and he was taken out to the harra, but when he felt the effect of the stones and could not bear it he went away quickly. But ‘Abdallah b. Unais encountered him when those who had been stoning him could not catch up on him, threw the bone of a camel’s foreleg at him, hit him and killed him. Then when he went to the Prophet (ﷺ) and mentioned that to him he said, “Why did you not leave him alone,* for perhaps he might have repented and been forgiven by God.” Abu Dawud transmitted it. *The verb is in the plural.

‘Amr b. al-'As told that he heard God's Messenger say, “Fornication will not appear among any people without their being punished by famine, and bribery will not appear among any people without their being punished by terror.” Ahmad transmitted it.