22 September 2006

Death by Stoning: the Bible vs the Quran

In my last post I listed 13 biblical passages that prescribe stoning as a punishment for various crimes. (The Catholic Encyclopedia says there are 18. Did I miss some? If so let me know so I can add another verse to the Everybody must get stoned song.) Here's a summary.
1.For touching Mount Sinai Exodus 19:13
2.For taking "accursed things" Joshua 7:1-26
3.For cursing or blaspheming Leviticus 24:16
4.For adultery (including urban rape victims who fail to scream loud enough) Deuteronomy 22:23-24
5.For animals (like an ox that gores a human) Exodus 21:28
6.For a woman who is not a virgin on her wedding night Deuteronomy 22:13-21
7.For worshipping other gods Deuteronomy 17:2-5
8.For preaching the wrong religion Deuteronomy 13:5-10
9.For disobeying parents Deuteronomy 21:18-21
10.For witches and wizards Leviticus 20:27
11.For giving your children to Molech Leviticus 20:2
12.For breaking the Sabbath Numbers 15:32-56
13.For cursing the king 1 Kings 21:10
I thought it would be interesting to see how many times, and for what offenses, the Quran prescribed death by stoning.

The answer is zero. The Quran does not mention stoning as a punishment for any crime.

So what gives, then? Why is stoning a fairly common punishment in Islamic countries, but rare or nonexistent in Christian or Jewish ones?

21 comments:

Anonymous said...

Beats me. But that's a good point. Religion is weird.

its certainly strange, I must say.


Granted, I must say I'm thankful jews don't go around stoning those of other religions... but its certainly puzzling.

Baconeater said...

Isn't the Koran an offshoot of the OT and NT? Muslims just use what appeals to them from those bibles.

Anonymous said...

Steve Wells' question is based on a false assumption, namely that stoning is a fairly common punishment in Islamic countries.

I would challenge Steve Wells to post some hard evidence that infliction of death by stoning is a common official practice in many Islamic countries, ie something done by the legal authorities and not just by lynch mobs. In other words, give us some statistics of the number of executions carried out by stoning.

I know for a fact that in practically all states with a Muslim population, the criminal law is based on European models, either British or the Code Napoleon, and that Muslim religious law is only used in civil cases eg matters relating to marriage, divorce, inheritance etc (in much the same way as in the State of the Jewish People civil law is administered by the religious authorities of the different communities).

Anonymous said...

Steve,

Stoning is prescribed in the hadith, because apparently Mohammed was very fond of it. It's one of the few (possibly only) examples of a hadith abrogating a verse from actually Qur'an.

See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stoning_to_Death_in_Islam

Anonymous said...

It appears at least in Iran, that stoning only occurs for capital crimes in addition to adultery, your cit:

"A woman, identified as Mahboubeh M., and a man, identified as Abbas H., had been convicted of committing adultery and murdering the woman's husband. Activists say that before the two were stoned to death, they were treated like "lifeless corpses." They were given final ablutions and then buried in a hole in the ground. Reports claim that more than 100 members of Iran's Revolutionary Guard and Basij paramilitary forces participated in the stoning. "

J92185 said...

First thank you Ginasong for sharing the gospel with these misguided individuals. You guys are saying "what kindof God would stone people?"... I have a different question for you- What kind of God would forgive such sinful wicked wretched creatures as us "while we were yet sinners" & offer his own son for a sacrifice for us? You are all in rebellion with your creator- the very one who created you, loves you and died for you. If I were God and thank him that I'm not because I would have stoned a lot more people. You're acting as if they didn't deserve it and God has wronged them in some way. No. What we don't deserve is his mercy grace forgiveness love kindness and dieing to atone for our sins against him. Think about it... Why are you so angry with God?

Unknown said...

Being a Muslim, I will still say that stoning is mentioned in the Quran and it is not just a combination from the OT and NT. It is done for the adulterers and only in that circumstance. http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20090403121155AAOtliB please read the whole blog...explains a lot. but there is a typo. its not about pre-marital sex its spesifically adultry.

Steve Wells said...

Suraya,

Where is stoning mentioned in the Quran? (I'm not asking for a link here, but for the sura and ayah.)

Unknown said...

My sister Suraya is in error and she needs to study her religion. The injunction for stoning the adulterer is found in the ahaadeeth. Islaam has not been borrowed from the OT nor NT. It is a continuation of the pure religion the was practiced by Abraham, Issac and Jacob and Jesus, son of Mary, without the innovations and inclusions of paganistic practices. Steve Wells, I think at one point in your life you claimed to be Muslim?

faithisfiction said...

"It is a continuation of the pure religion the was practiced by Abraham, Issac and Jacob and Jesus"

Really?

1. "Whoever thinks that Allah will not give Muhammad victory should go hang himself"

2. "Allah destroyed the people in Lot 's town with a dreadful rain"

- oh goodness, Yahweh/Allah cannot remember how he got the job done?

3. "Allah will taunt the Christians in hell, saying: Where are all my partners that you used to believe in?"

- Allah will do this to people who misinterpreted Jesus' message? Perhaps allah should have asked his messenger to clarify the position, being all knowing and omnipotent and all that...

4. "Those in the Garden will drink delicious wine, while those in the Fire will drink boiling water that will tear apart their intestines. "

- Wine on earth is a no-no, in heaven its the big draw card?

5. "Those that Allah drowned in Noah's flood were then tortured forever in the Fire."

- allah hadnt mentioned that he had prepared the fire. Seems kind of immoral to drown people and then burn them forever without giving them advance warning dont you think?

Faith is fiction folks. Cut the crap, drop the delusion and dump dark age superstition, immorality, sexism and wishthinking on the scrap heap where it belongs.

Its immoral not to.

Unknown said...

Stoning is in the bible and in the torah but not in the Koran but it is in Islamic Hadith


Prophet Muhammad: Receive teaching from me, receive teaching from me. God has ordained that when a married male committing adultery with a married female, they shall receive one hundred lashes and be stoned to death. (Muslim: Book 17 : Hadith 419l)

Muslim2Christ said...

This is a very good question. Christians don't practice stoning, Muslims throughout the Middle East still do. The Bible has several verses enabling stoning in the Old Testament (not the New Covenant), and Islam, though has many barbaric verses in Quran, only directly commands stoning in the Hadith as an Abrogation (surah 2:106/Replacement verse or new teaching)to lashing adulterers 100 times.

Review this before continuing:
http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=John%208&version=NKJV

The Bible Teaches in John 8 that Jesus, God in flesh (John 8:58 & Exodus 3:13-15/Philippians 2:1-11), stopped the Religious Leaders from stoning a woman supposedly caught in the act of adultery by saying 'who without sin cast the first stone'. Furthermore, Jesus, the only one sinless, said he does not condemn her and made her confirm that no one else was there to condemn her too. Followers of Jesus aren't known for stoning people, because Jesus isn't known for stoning people. I'd suggest you if you are interested in more information about the Law, Grace, and Why the OT said Stone and the NT doesn't to go to www.gatewaypeople.com/sermons
-They have the best teaching on the subject- look for the series called "Overwhelmed by Grace"


Islam and Stoning:
Narrated Ash-Sha'bi: from 'Ali when the latter stoned a lady to death on a Friday. 'Ali said, "I have stoned her according to the tradition of Allah's Apostle."
Sahih Bukhari 8:82:803

The same hadith, narration, that teaches Muslims how to Pray (Sahih Bukhari Volume 1, Book 10, Number 500) teaches Muslims from 1400 years ago to now to stone adulterers.

A Comprehensive List
http://wikiislam.net/wiki/Qur'an,_Hadith_and_Scholars:Stoning

Christians today don't stone because they are convicted as guilty themselves and have been bought into a new covenant by Christ, however Muslims deny Christ and following a religion that came 600 years after that seeks redemption of honor by killing someone with a few witnesses (whether truthful or not). Women are usually the victims.

I also suggest seeking out this movie as it has done much to draw attention to the epidemic and the cries of the victims:
The Stoning of Soroya:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wAHdWmTBtR4&feature=related

I'm involved in Humanitarian Aid in the Middle East and have teams documenting atrocities, such as these...

If you are a praying person--please pray.

Unknown said...

The stoning punishment isn't found in the quran but it is found in the hadith.
These are the documents which supposedly sometimes accurately talk about what the prophet Muhammed did and how he acted.

No where in the quran does it say to grow a beard, yet Muslims see it as a rule to grow a beard because the hadith says Muhammad had a beard and the quran says to do whatever Muhammad does.

vonjd said...

I consider it quite funny how the catholic encyclopedia begins: "Palestine being a very rocky country, the abundance of stones made it natural to use them as missiles."

Unknown said...

Stoning is prescribed in hadiths. It's hard to tell if these are authentic tellings of Muhammad's life or just muslims trying to make Islam fit with the old and new testaments. There is even a hadith about how the quran used to have a verse of stonning, but it was written on a piece of parchment that was eaten by a goat.

[Narrated 'Aisha] "The verse of the stoning and of suckling an adult ten times were revealed, and they were (written) on a paper and kept under my bed. When the messenger of Allah expired and we were preoccupied with his death, a goat entered and ate away the paper."

Most scholars doubt this hadith because the quran is supposed to be unchanged and the chain is "untrustworthy" which is whhy it's not in the authentic collections, but scholars do point to this hadith for justifying stoning.

Narrated Ibn 'Abbas: 'Umar said, "I am afraid that after a long time has passed, people may say, "We do not find the Verses of the Rajam (stoning to death) in the Holy Book," and consequently they may go astray by leaving an obligation that Allah has revealed. Lo! I confirm that the penalty of Rajam be inflicted on him who commits illegal sexual intercourse, if he is already married and the crime is proved by witnesses or pregnancy or confession." Sufyan added, "I have memorized this narration in this way." 'Umar added, "Surely Allah's Apostle carried out the penalty of Rajam, and so did we after him."

Right Path said...

Bacon eating atheist Jew first of all read Old Testament and New testament carefully and then read Quran thereafter make the claim you have made. Quran is an original work not a copy paste of ON and NT

Unknown said...

Stoning is in the bible and in the tanakh but not in the Koran but it is in Islamic Hadith.
Stoning is prescribed in the hadith, because apparently Mohammed was very fond of it. It's one of the few (possibly only) examples of a hadith abrogating a verse from the Qur'an.

See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stoning_to_Death_in_Islam

Unknown said...

I would like to say, I am not opposed to stoning. I am opposed to the interpretation we give to the term stoning. These interpretations are supposed to be the easy ones to resist. The interpretations get much harder to discern as we go along. But, if anyone thinks that God wants us to physically pick up a physical rock and bash someone in the physical head with it, and call the people who won't mislead, then we have a long row ahead of us.

Unknown said...

It is not required that we physically do the act to be guilty. All that is required is how we know the act. The interpretation is what makes us guilty.

Unknown said...

I am pulling two rocks out of the temple. The two rocks that are my witness are "stoning" and "eye for an eye". Three days of labor can take as long as we require, but at the end of three days, the temple will be down and a new one will be in it's place. The interpretations of these two terms have dominated our world long enough. Now ask yourself... Who got stoned in this scenario?

AlexDean said...

The so-called stoning hadeeth is fabricated like many others! In fact, Umar ibn al-Khattaab, the second chronological caliph was frustrated that no sanction to stoning was found in the Quran and he and others could not carry it out!
The suggestion that Muhammad carried it out "because he was very fond of it". a suggested by an ignoramus here, is complete nonsense! The only group who carried out stoning in his lifetime were the Jews of Madina as they obeyed the Biblical law! Dynastic regimes that eventually took over the reigns of power borrowed this aspect of Jewish law and used this harsh and barbaric punishment as a part of their "law and order" methods.