If we say that digging is required for stoning, where is it to be done?
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The questioner : In the case of stoning, if we dig for him, does it seem that there would be no place left for the striking?
The Shaykh : There must be something left to be struck. The issue of digging is a matter we must point out. Digging does not mean we dig for him up to his head. Some scholars say he is dug in up to the man's knees and the woman's breasts. This, too, is open to consideration, because if we dig him in to that point, what is left for the stoning? The head and the vital organs. No specific limit has been established in the Shari'ah, but the closest thing that should be done is up to the thighs or thereabouts.
The questioner : If we say that the entire body is subject to the striking, except for his head...
The Shaykh : Yes, yes, indeed, yes. This is according to the opinion of those who do not hold that digging is required. As for those who hold that digging is required, it is not possible for the stones to reach the part of him that is in the ground.
The questioner : When the hadd is carried out by flogging, the blow is two strikes. Can it be said that this is the case with stones, meaning they lay him out and give him half the hadd?
The Shaykh : No, and the Shaykh laughed.
The Shaykh : There must be something left to be struck. The issue of digging is a matter we must point out. Digging does not mean we dig for him up to his head. Some scholars say he is dug in up to the man's knees and the woman's breasts. This, too, is open to consideration, because if we dig him in to that point, what is left for the stoning? The head and the vital organs. No specific limit has been established in the Shari'ah, but the closest thing that should be done is up to the thighs or thereabouts.
The questioner : If we say that the entire body is subject to the striking, except for his head...
The Shaykh : Yes, yes, indeed, yes. This is according to the opinion of those who do not hold that digging is required. As for those who hold that digging is required, it is not possible for the stones to reach the part of him that is in the ground.
The questioner : When the hadd is carried out by flogging, the blow is two strikes. Can it be said that this is the case with stones, meaning they lay him out and give him half the hadd?
The Shaykh : No, and the Shaykh laughed.