The married free woman: Is she stoned?
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The questioner : Regarding the married state, we said its limit is stoning for a free woman. So how do we say that half of stoning is fifty lashes?
The Shaykh : Stoning, may Allah reward you, is not divisible. However, regarding a slave woman, if she is not married, the correct view is that she is subject only to discretionary punishment if she is not married. If she is married, she is subject to half of the flogging.
The questioner : What is the benefit of His saying?
The Shaykh : The benefit is that if she is not married, she is not subject to half of the punishment that married women are subject to.
The questioner : So what is she subject to?
The Shaykh : She is subject to discretionary punishment, merely a disciplinary measure. Some who see no difference say that it mentions the highest case, meaning if she is married, she is subject to half of what married women are subject to, and if she is not married, it is even more fitting that the flogging not be completed for her. But the correct view is the opposite.
The Shaykh : Stoning, may Allah reward you, is not divisible. However, regarding a slave woman, if she is not married, the correct view is that she is subject only to discretionary punishment if she is not married. If she is married, she is subject to half of the flogging.
The questioner : What is the benefit of His saying
If she is married
فإذا أحصنThe Shaykh : The benefit is that if she is not married, she is not subject to half of the punishment that married women are subject to.
The questioner : So what is she subject to?
The Shaykh : She is subject to discretionary punishment, merely a disciplinary measure. Some who see no difference say that it mentions the highest case, meaning if she is married, she is subject to half of what married women are subject to, and if she is not married, it is even more fitting that the flogging not be completed for her. But the correct view is the opposite.