Chapter on What Necessitates Discretionary Punishment, Legal Punishment, Stoning, Execution, and Exile in Adultery

Narrated by Al-Hasan ibn Mahbub from Hanan ibn Sadir who said: Indeed, Abbad Al-Makki said that Sufyan Al-Thawri told me, "I see that you have a close relationship with Abu Abdullah عليه السلام, so ask Imam عليه السلام about a man who committed adultery while he is ill. If the prescribed punishment (hadd) is carried out on him, they fear he might die. What is your opinion on this matter?" So I asked Imam عليه السلام, and Imam عليه السلام said to me: "Is this question from yourself, or did someone instruct you to ask about it?" I replied: "Sufyan Al-Thawri ordered me to ask you about it." Imam عليه السلام said: "The Messenger of Allah سبحانه وتعالى (peace and blessings be upon him and his family) was brought a man who was obese, his stomach was swollen, and the veins of his thighs were visible, and he had committed adultery with a sick woman. The Messenger of Allah سبحانه وتعالى (peace and blessings be upon him and his family) commanded that a palm branch with one hundred stalks be brought, and he struck him with it once and struck her with it once, and then he set them both free. This is in accordance with the saying of Allah سبحانه وتعالى Almighty: 'And take in your hand a bundle of thin grass and strike with it, and do not break your oath'." (Surah Sad 38:44)