Stoning,
or lapidation, is a method of capital punishment where a group throws
stones at a person until the subject dies from blunt trauma.
It has been attested as a form of punishment for grave misdeeds since ancient times.
The
Torah and Talmud prescribe stoning as punishment for a number of
offenses. Over the centuries, Rabbinic Judaism developed a number of
procedural constraints which made these laws practically unenforceable.
Although
stoning is not mentioned in the Quran, classical Islamic jurisprudence
(fiqh) imposed stoning as a hadd (sharia-prescribed) punishment for
certain forms of zina (illicit sexual intercourse) on the basis of
hadith (sayings and actions attributed to the Islamic prophet Muhammad).
It also developed a number of procedural requirements which made zina difficult to prove in practice.
Stoning
appears to have been the standard method of capital punishment in
ancient Israel. Its use is attested in the early Christian era, but
Jewish courts generally avoided stoning sentences in later times. Only a
few isolated instances of legal stoning are recorded in pre-modern
history of the Islamic world.
Criminal laws of
most modern Muslim-majority countries have been derived from Western
models. In recent decades several states have inserted stoning and other
hudud (pl. of hadd) punishments into their penal codes under the
influence of Islamist movements. These laws hold particular importance
for religious conservatives due to their scriptural origin, though in
practice they have played a largely symbolic role and tended to fall
into disuse.
In recent times, stoning has been a
legal or customary punishment in Iran, United Arab Emirates, Qatar,
Mauritania, Saudi Arabia, Sudan, Yemen, northern Nigeria, Afghanistan,
Brunei, and tribal parts of Pakistan, including northwest Kurram Valley
and the northwest Khwezai-Baezai region though it is rarely carried out.
In
some of these countries, including Afghanistan, it has been carried out
extrajudicially by militants, tribal leaders, and others.In some other
countries, including Nigeria and Pakistan, although stoning is a legal
form of punishment, it has never been legally carried out. Stoning is
condemned by human rights organizations.
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