Stoning (رجم) Justice from God or tradition from men?
These are the revelations of God, We recite them to you with the truth. So, in which Hadith after God and His revelations do they believe?
Quran 45:6
We’ve all seen the images. A woman buried waist-deep in the earth. A circle of men around her, stones in hand.
Cries of terror. Then silence. Another life taken, in the name of “Islam”...
In places like Taliban-controlled Afghanistan or under certain so-called “Sharia” regimes, this punishment; stoning to death is carried out publicly.
For many of us, it feels horrifying…. We’ve been told it’s part of Islam. That it’s God’s law.
But here’s the unsettling question:
Is it really in the Qur’an?
Did God ever command this?
Let’s look closely at the verses and ask with open minds:
Where did stoning come from: God, or something else?
What does رجم really mean? - Lane’s Lexicon
Lane’s Classical Arabic Lexicon gives deep insight into the various meanings of رجم:
- To stone or pelt (literal)
- To curse or revile
- To expel or drive away
- To speak conjecturally, guess
- To falsely accuse or slander
So “rajm” doesn’t just mean physical stoning, it includes mental, verbal, and metaphorical aggression.
| Verse | Speaker | Context |
|---|---|---|
| 3:36 | Maryam's mother | Seeking protection |
| 11:91 | Disbelievers to Shu’ayb | Threat of violence |
| 15:17 | God | Sky constellation |
| 15:34 | God | Iblis is cast out |
| 16:98 | God | Seek refuge before reading the Quran |
| 18:20 | Sleepers of the cave | Fear of persecution |
| 18:22 | God | People guessing |
| 19:46 | Ibrahim’s father | Threat to his son |
| 26:116 | Disbelievers to Nuh | Threaten Nuh |
| 36:18 | Disbelievers | Threat |
| 38:77 | God | Iblis is cast out |
| 44:20 | Musa | Fear of persecution |
| 67:5 | God | Sky constellation |
| 81:25 | God | Describing the Quran |
After examining all 14 instances of the root رجم (R-J-M) in the Qur’an, one fact becomes undeniable:
Stoning in the Qur’an is either a threat made by disbelievers, a metaphor for false speech, or an image of divine rejection.
Never once is it a law, a command, or a ritual from God.
So how did this practice of throwing stones, killing with stones, find its way into religion?
That’s the question we must now confront.
Hadith vs Quran: Where did stoning come from?
Where did this brutal punishment come from?
Who introduced the idea that adultery should be punished by stoning human beings to death?
Because when you open the Quran, the Book claimed to be complete, protected, and fully detailed, you won’t find stoning mentioned as a legal punishment. Not once.
What is the Quranic punishment for adultery?
The adulteress and the adulterer, you shall lash each of them with one hundred lashes, and do not let any pity overtake you regarding the system of God if you believe in God and the Last Day. And let a group of the believers witness their punishment.
Quran 24:2
Yet "Islamic" law books, scholars, and entire governments enforce "stoning".
People are buried in the ground, surrounded by mobs, and killed with stones, all in the name of God.
So where did it come from?
Hadith. Not the Qur’an.
Let’s take a look....
What do the Hadith say?
Abu Huraira reported that a person from amongst the Muslims came to Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) while he was in the mosque. He called him saying:
Allah's Messenger. I have committed adultery. He (the Holy Prophet) turned away from him, He (again) came round facing him and said to him: Allah's Messenger, I have committed adultery. He (the Holy Prophet) turned away until he did that four times, and as he testified four times against his own self, Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) called him and said: Are you mad? He said: No. He (again) said: Are you married? He said: Yes. Thereupon Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) said: Take him and stone him.
Sahih Muslim 1691 c
Ibn Shihab (one of the narrators) said:
One who had heard Jabir b. 'Abdullah saying this informed me thus: I was one of those who stoned him. We stoned him at the place of prayer (either that of 'Id or a funeral). When the stones hurt him, he ran away. We caught him in the Harra and stoned him (to death).
Sahih Muslim 1691 d
Abdullah b. 'Abbas reported that 'Umar b. Khattab sat on the pulpit of Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) and said:
Verily Allah sent Muhammad (ﷺ) with truth and He sent down the Book upon him, and the verse of stoning was included in what was sent down to him. We recited it, retained it in our memory and understood it. Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) awarded the punishment of stoning to death (to the married adulterer and adulteress) and, after him, we also awarded the punishment of stoning, I am afraid that with the lapse of time, the people (may forget it) and may say: We do not find the punishment of stoning in the Book of Allah, and thus go astray by abandoning this duty prescribed by Allah. Stoning is a duty laid down in Allah's Book for married men and women who commit adultery when proof is established, or it there is pregnancy, or a confession.
Sahih Muslim 1691 a
This claim is alarming. According to this hadith:
There was a verse about stoning, but it is no longer in the Quran.
People may forget it, so we must enforce it anyway.
But the Quran says:
“Indeed, it is We who sent down the Reminder, and indeed, We will guard it.”
Quran 15:9
So which do we trust; a narration claiming the Quran is incomplete, or the Quran itself which promises protection?
Warnings against rejecting God's Law
God repeatedly warns us not to judge by anything other than what He revealed:
“And whoever does not judge by what Allah has revealed, they are the disbelievers.”
Quran 5:44
Is it the judgment of the days of ignorance that they seek? And who is better than God as a judge for a people who comprehend?
Quran 5:50
Shall I seek other than God as a judge when He has sent down to you the Book fully detailed?”
Quran 6:114
If we choose Hadith over the Quran, are we not seeking another judge besides God?
Ritual stoning - who invented this?
And this obsession with "stoning" didn’t stop at punishments.
It worked its way into "Hajj" itself.
Every year in Mina, millions of "Muslims" throw pebbles at three stone pillars; reenacting a story where Ibrahim supposedly pelted Satan.
Crowds surge, shout, and push toward stone structures. People have been trampled. Some even die.
All for a ritual not mentioned once in the Quran.
To an outsider, it looks bizarre, a chaotic scene of people violently attacking stone columns, believing they're driving away the devil.
But even to a believer who reads the Quran carefully, it raises a more serious question:
Where did this come from?
Not from revelation.
Not from the verses on Hajj.
Only from narrations written down long after the Prophet’s death.
The Quran never instructs this. It never even hints at it.
And yet, this has become central - unquestioned - repeated year after year.
How did a religion built on guidance, clarity, and truth become one where rituals like this are practiced without a single divine command?
It’s not a symbol of faith.
It’s a symbol of how far we’ve strayed....