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Stoning in Islam

Wikipedia's first sentence called it “unique in islamic law in that it conflicts with the qur'anic prescription for premarital and extramarital sex”. Today it says “judicial or extrajudicial form of punishment”. "jihad" appeared 1 time in the opening in 2015. Today: absent from the opening.

Measured, not asserted. Every count, date and revision on this page was taken from Wikipedia's own history and checked against the live article. The words quoted are theirs.

Machine-checked against the full current article on 2026-08-03.

We saved snapshots of this article over twenty years; you are reading the 2015 one. Red dashes: removed from Wikipedia since. Pale dots: rewritten; the numbered note shows what it says now. ¹ tap a number or a side note to jump between them

The opening as it read in 2015

This is a sub-article to Islamic criminal jurisprudence and Stoning . A map showing countries where public stoning is a judicial or extrajudicial form of punishment, as of 2013.¹ Political Islamic leadership Caliphate Majlis-ash-Shura Imamate Wilayat al-faqih Bay'ah Dhimmi Aman Family Criminal Etiquette Adab Gender segregation ( Purdah ) Mahram Honorifics Toilet Economic Hygiene Military Jihad Ghanimah Hudna Istijarah (asylum) Prisoners of war Social Haqq al-Nas ( The right(s) of the people ) Islamic studies v t e Rajm ( رجم ) is an Arabic word that means " stoning ". It is commonly used to refer to the Hudud punishment wherein an organized group throws stones at a convicted individual until that person dies. Under Islamic law , it is the prescribed punishment in cases of adultery committed by a married man or married woman.² The conviction requires a confession from either the adulterer/adulteress, or the testimony of four witnesses (as prescribed by the Quran in Surah an-Nur verse 4), or pregnancy outside of marriage.³ Some minority Muslim sects such as Kharijites found in Iraq, as well as a small group of modernist scholars called Quranists disagree entirely regarding its legality, arguing that it cannot be found in the Qur'an . Surah an-Nur of Quran prescribes lashing for premarital and extramarital sex ( zina ), but makes no mention of the capital punishment of Rajm for adultery. However, multiple sunnah in hadiths mention stoning and therefore most Muslim schools of jurisprudence accept it as a prescribed punishment for adultery.⁴ Most Muslims, as well as Islamic scholars, consider hadiths as an authoritative source, second only to Quran, as a source of religious law.⁵ Hanafites have traditionally held that the witnesses should throw the first stones in case the conviction was brought about by witnesses, and the qadi must throw the first stones in case the conviction was brought about by a confession.⁶ Emma Batha, Stoning - where does it happen?⁷

This is Wikipedia's own text, saved in our repository. Their copy of it is revision 669011032.

The opening as it stood in 2020 4 passages from the previous snapshot no longer appear

This is a sub-article to Islamic criminal jurisprudence and Stoning . A map showing countries where public stoning is a judicial or extrajudicial form of punishment, as of 2013. Political Islamic leadership Caliphate Majlis-ash-Shura Imamate Wilayat al-faqih Bay'ah Dhimmi Aman Family Criminal Etiquette Adab Gender segregation ( Purdah ) Mahram Honorifics Toilet Economic Hygiene Military Jihad Ghanimah Hudna Istijarah (asylum) Prisoners of war Social Haqq al-Nas ( The right(s) of the people ) Islamic studies v t e Rajm ( رجم ) is an Arabic word that means " stoning ". It is commonly used to refer to the Hudud punishment wherein an organized group throws stones at a convicted individual until that person dies. Under some versions of Islamic law ( Sharia ), it is the prescribed punishment in cases of adultery committed by a married man or married woman. The conviction requires a confession from either the adulterer/adulteress, or the testimony of four witnesses (as prescribed by Quran 24 :4), or pregnancy outside of marriage. The punishment of stoning/ Rajm or capital punishment for adultery is unique in Islamic law in that it conflicts with the Qur'anic prescription for premarital and extramarital sex ( zina ) found in Surah an-Nur,2: "The woman and the man guilty of adultery or fornication — flog each of them with a hundred stripes". However, stoning is mentioned in multiple hadiths (reports claiming to quote what Muhammad said verbatim on various matters, which most Muslims and Islamic scholars consider an authoritative source second only to Quran as a source of religious law), and therefore most schools of Islamic jurisprudence accept it as a prescribed punishment for adultery. The punishment has been rarely applied in the history of Islam owing to the very strict evidential requirements stipulated by Islamic law. Emma Batha, Stoning - where does it happen? Quran 24:2 , Quote - "The woman and the man guilty of adultery or fornication, flog each of them with a hundred stripes: Let not compassion move you in their case, in a matter prescribed by Allah, if ye believe in Allah and the Last Day: and let a party of the Believers witness their punishment." e.g.

Red text was written in or rewritten since the previous snapshot. Their copy is revision 965014820.

The opening as it stood on October 6, 2023 3 passages from the previous snapshot no longer appear

This is a sub-article to Islamic criminal jurisprudence and Stoning . Political Islamic leadership Caliphate Majlis-ash-Shura Imamate Wilayat al-faqih Bay'ah Dhimmi Aman Family Criminal Etiquette Adab Gender segregation ( Purdah ) Mahram Honorifics Toilet Economic Hygiene Military Jihad Ghanimah Hudna Istijarah (asylum) Prisoners of war Social Haqq al-Nas ( The right(s) of the people ) Islamic studies v t e Rajm ( ; meaning stoning) in Islam refers to the Hudud punishment wherein an organized group throws stones at a convicted individual until that person dies. Under some versions of Islamic law ( Sharia ), it is the prescribed punishment in cases of adultery committed by a married person which requires a confession from either the adulterer or adulteress. The punishment of stoning/ Rajm or capital punishment for adultery is unique in Islamic law in that it conflicts with the Qur'anic prescription for premarital and extramarital sex ( zina ) found in Surah An-Nur, 2: "The woman and the man guilty of adultery or fornication — flog each of them with a hundred stripes." For this reason some minority Muslim sects such as Kharijites found in Iraq, and Islamic Modernists such as the Quranists disagree with the legality of rajm . However, stoning is mentioned in multiple hadiths (reports claiming to quote what Muhammad said verbatim on various matters, which most Muslims and Islamic scholars consider an authoritative source second only to Quran as a source of religious law and rulings), and therefore most schools of Islamic jurisprudence accept it as a prescribed punishment for adultery. The punishment has been rarely applied in the history of Islam owing to the very strict evidential requirements stipulated by Islamic law. Encyclopaedia of Islam (2nd ed.). Quran 24:2 , Quote - "The woman and the man guilty of adultery or fornication, flog each of them with a hundred stripes: Let not compassion move you in their case, in a matter prescribed by Allah, if ye believe in Allah and the Last Day: and let a party of the Believers witness their punishment." e.g.

Red text was written in or rewritten since the previous snapshot. Their copy is revision 1173173621.

The opening as it stood in 2025

This is a sub-article to Islamic criminal jurisprudence and Stoning . Political Islamic leadership Caliphate Majlis-ash-Shura Imamate Wilayat al-faqih Bay'ah Dhimmi Aman Family Criminal Etiquette Adab Gender segregation ( Purdah ) Mahram Honorifics Toilet Economic Hygiene Military Jihad Ghanimah Hudna Istijarah (asylum) Prisoners of war Social Haqq al-Nas ( The right(s) of the people ) Islamic studies v t e In Islam , stoning ( Arabic : رجم , romanized : Rajm ) is the Hudud punishment wherein an organized group throws stones at a convicted individual until that person dies. Under some versions of Islamic law ( Sharia ), it is the prescribed punishment in cases of adultery committed by a married person which requires either a confession from either the adulterer or adulteress, or producing four witnesses of sexual penetration. The punishment of stoning as a capital punishment for adultery is unique in Islamic law in that it conflicts with the Qur'anic prescription for premarital and extramarital sex ( zina ) found in Surah An-Nur, 2: "The woman and the man guilty of adultery or fornication — flog each of them with a hundred stripes." For this reason some minority Muslim sects such as the former Kharijites , and Islamic modernists such as the Quranists disagree with the legality of stoning. However, stoning is mentioned in multiple hadiths (reports claiming to quote what Muhammad said verbatim on various matters, which most Muslims and Islamic scholars consider an authoritative source second only to Quran as a source of religious law and rulings), and therefore most schools of Islamic jurisprudence accept it as a prescribed punishment for adultery. The punishment has been rarely applied in the history of Islam owing to the very strict evidential requirements stipulated by Islamic law. Encyclopaedia of Islam (2nd ed.). Quran 24:2 , Quote - "The woman and the man guilty of adultery or fornication, flog each of them with a hundred stripes: Let not compassion move you in their case, in a matter prescribed by Allah, if ye believe in Allah and the Last Day: and let a party of the Believers witness their punishment." e.g.

Red text was written in or rewritten since the previous snapshot. Their copy is revision 1292068657. This is our newest snapshot; the live article may have moved again since.

Today

Counts in the opening at each snapshot. Green: the word gained ground. Red: it was cut. Grey: no change.
	2005	2010	2015	2020	Oct '23	2025
jihad	0	0	1	1	1	1

What Wikipedia says this is

Every article opens by defining its subject. This one was redefined since October 7, and today's defining sentence is their current revision.

Then

unique in islamic law in that it conflicts with the qur'anic prescription for premarital and extramarital sex

Now

judicial or extrajudicial form of punishment

image & license · Wikimedia

1. Removed: “A map showing countries where public stoning is a judicial or extrajudicial…” In the article until 2020 (rev), gone by October 6, 2023 (rev).

2. Rewrote 2 sentences: “It is commonly used to refer to the Hudud punishment wherein an…” Changed after our 2025 snapshot. Now reads: “Under some versions of Islamic law ( Sharia ), it is the prescribed punishment in cases of adultery committed by a married…”

3. Removed: “The conviction requires a confession from either the adulterer/adulteress, or the testimony…” In the article until 2020 (rev), gone by October 6, 2023 (rev).

4. Removed 3 sentences: “Some minority Muslim sects such as Kharijites found in Iraq, as well…” In the article until 2015 (rev), gone by 2020 (rev).

5. Rewrote: “Most Muslims, as well as Islamic scholars, consider hadiths as an authoritative…” Changed after our 2025 snapshot.

6. Removed: “Hanafites have traditionally held that the witnesses should throw the first stones…” In the article until 2015 (rev), gone by 2020 (rev).

7. Removed: “Emma Batha, Stoning - where does it happen?” In the article until 2020 (rev), gone by October 6, 2023 (rev).

Struck red text is no longer in the article; dotted amber text was rewritten. Every revision id links to Wikipedia's copy; the text shown is our own saved copy. Data: /data. Wikipedia text is CC BY-SA; quoted for the record; not affiliated with Wikipedia.

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