What is the meaning of his saying (may peace and blessings be upon him), “And for the fornicator, a stone”?
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The questioner : May Allah reward you. What is the meaning of the saying of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him): ?
The Shaykh : Yes, his saying: Some scholars said: The stone is the one used for stoning, because the fornicator is the one who commits unlawful sexual intercourse, and if he commits unlawful sexual intercourse while being married, he is stoned with stones. But this is not correct, because according to this interpretation, the unmarried fornicator would be excluded. Is the unmarried fornicator stoned?
No. So the correct opinion regarding the meaning of this hadith is that he has a stone in his mouth. It was the custom of the Arabs that anyone who claimed what was not his would be put a stone in his mouth. This is like what we have now among the common people, who say: If so-and-so speaks ill of you, fill his mouth with dirt. This means our judgment is milder than the judgment of the pre-Islamic age of ignorance. The Arabs used a stone; if you hit someone with it, his teeth might break. But we use dirt; if you fill his mouth with dirt, he spits it out, rinses his mouth, and the matter is over.
and the fornicator gets a stone
وللعاهر الحجرThe Shaykh : Yes, his saying:
and the fornicator gets a stone
وللعاهر الحجرNo. So the correct opinion regarding the meaning of this hadith is that he has a stone in his mouth. It was the custom of the Arabs that anyone who claimed what was not his would be put a stone in his mouth. This is like what we have now among the common people, who say: If so-and-so speaks ill of you, fill his mouth with dirt. This means our judgment is milder than the judgment of the pre-Islamic age of ignorance. The Arabs used a stone; if you hit someone with it, his teeth might break. But we use dirt; if you fill his mouth with dirt, he spits it out, rinses his mouth, and the matter is over.