Punishment for an Unmarried Adulterer

A man proposed to a bride and the marriage contract was concluded in the Sharia court. During the engagement period, he committed adultery with someone other than his fiancée. What is the Islamic ruling on such a matter? Is it stoning or flogging?

Answer:

Praise be to Allah and may peace and blessings be upon the Messenger of Allah and his family and companions. As for what follows: A person

who has made a contract with a woman but has not consummated the marriage with her is not considered to be married, because the punishment for stoning a married person is only carried out on someone who meets the following conditions: He must be of legal age and free, and he had sexual intercourse while he was fully mature, with legal age and freedom, in a valid marriage, even if the sexual intercourse occurred during a period of doubtful waiting period, menstruation, or ihram. The condition of having sexual intercourse during ihram is agreed upon by the four schools of thought.

The legal punishment for this is one hundred lashes and banishment for a year, based on the statement of Allah the Almighty: “As for the adulterer and the adulteress, flog each of them with a hundred stripes…” [An-Nur: 2].

Al-Bukhari narrated from the hadith of Abu Hurairah: The Prophet, may God bless him and grant him peace, ruled that the one who committed adultery and was not married should be banished for a year and the punishment

should be carried out. He must conceal himself with the concealment of God Almighty. See Fatwa No.: