An-Nūr 24:2

The issue

This verse speaks about the punishment for adultery. Research of this verse generates three perplexing issues:

The punishment for adultery by a married man is stoning him to death. This punishment relies not on Q 24.2 but on the stoning verse, which (according to Islamic sources) states, “The shaykh [sexually experienced man] and the shaykha [sexually experienced woman], if they commit adultery, stone them outright”. Another narrative states that Muhammad once read this verse to the Muslims as “if the shaykh or the shaykha commits adultery, you ought to stone them according to what they have spent of pleasure”.

Question: Since this verdict on adultery is still in effect, according to Islamic sharī‘a (Islamic law), why is this verse absent from the Qur’ān? Removing it from the Qur’ān would be explicable if the verdict was abrogated. Its still enforceable punishment indicates that there was negligence in the compilation of the Qur’ān.

After the verse specifies the punishment for adultery, it commands that the punishment be carried out in the presence of a group of Muslims: “…and let a party of the believers witness their torment.” A “party” is said to be between one and one thousand people. Muslim exegetes disagree regarding the minimum number of witnesses to the punishment of adultery. Some state at least two witnesses, others three, yet others four.

Punishment carried out in the presence of a group of Muslims attempts to make each spectator a partner in the punishment process. The individual’s observance with the group, feeling “at one” with the executioner, gives each Muslim spectator a sense of power and a belief that he is a partner in carrying out “divine justice” in delivering the punishment upon the victim.

In addition, the punishment before crowds aims to spread such fear in the individual observer to deter him or her from committing the same act and avoid the public as well as harsh predicament of the current transgressor. The process and execution of this type of punishment leads to a faith built on fear.

This method firmly unites the judging group, based on the principle of being a part of the punishing force and the striking instrument. Yet, at the same time, it turns this same group into a group that is afraid of the punishment. This mind-set reveals that the Islamic ethical code relies on the principle of the sword even within Islamic society.

The word adulteress is mentioned before the word adulterer in the verse (Palmer trans.“The whore and the whoremonger…” ), a sequence that is justified by stating that the act of adultery results from the strength of the desire, and that the woman’s desire is stronger and more volatile. The verse cancels the psychological differences between different persons, as desire may be stronger with one man or another, or with one woman or another. However, the offered justification expresses a view that presents women as evil, making the woman as the primary cause of adultery. Muhammad expressed this same negative view of woman by stating in a ģadīth that “women are the majority of the people of hell-fire”.