Sunan Abi Dawud: Book 40, Hadith 68
‘Abd Allah b. ‘Abbas said: ‘Umar b. al-Khattab gave an address saying: Allah sent Muhammad (ﷺ) with truth and sent down the Books of him, and the verse of stoning was included in what He sent down to him. We read it and memorized it. The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) had people stoned to death and we have done it also since his death. I am afraid the people might say with the passage of time: We do not find the verse of stoning in the Books of Allah, and thus they stray by abandoning a duty which Allah had received. Stoning is a duty laid down (by Allah) for married men and women who commit fornication when proof is established, or if there is pregnancy, or a confession. I swear by Allah, had it not been so that the people might say: ‘Umar made an addition to Allah’s Book, I would have written it (there).
حَدَّثَنَا عَبْدُ اللَّهِ بْنُ مُحَمَّدٍ النُّفَيْلِيُّ، حَدَّثَنَا هُشَيْمٌ، حَدَّثَنَا الزُّهْرِيُّ، عَنْ عُبَيْدِ اللَّهِ بْنِ عَبْدِ اللَّهِ بْنِ عُتْبَةَ، عَنْ عَبْدِ اللَّهِ بْنِ عَبَّاسٍ، أَنَّ عُمَرَ، – يَعْنِي ابْنَ الْخَطَّابِ – رضى الله عنه خَطَبَ فَقَالَ إِنَّ اللَّهَ بَعَثَ مُحَمَّدًا صلى الله عليه وسلم بِالْحَقِّ وَأَنْزَلَ عَلَيْهِ الْكِتَابَ فَكَانَ فِيمَا أَنْزَلَ عَلَيْهِ آيَةُ الرَّجْمِ فَقَرَأْنَاهَا وَوَعَيْنَاهَا وَرَجَمَ رَسُولُ اللَّهِ صلى الله عليه وسلم وَرَجَمْنَا مِنْ بَعْدِهِ وَإِنِّي خَشِيتُ – إِنْ طَالَ بِالنَّاسِ الزَّمَانُ – أَنْ يَقُولَ قَائِلٌ مَا نَجِدُ آيَةَ الرَّجْمِ فِي كِتَابِ اللَّهِ فَيَضِلُّوا بِتَرْكِ فَرِيضَةٍ أَنْزَلَهَا اللَّهُ تَعَالَى فَالرَّجْمُ حَقٌّ عَلَى مَنْ زَنَى مِنَ الرِّجَالِ وَالنِّسَاءِ إِذَا كَانَ مُحْصَنًا إِذَا قَامَتِ الْبَيِّنَةُ أَوْ كَانَ حَمْلٌ أَوِ اعْتِرَافٌ وَايْمُ اللَّهِ لَوْلاَ أَنْ يَقُولَ النَّاسُ زَادَ عُمَرُ فِي كِتَابِ اللَّهِ عَزَّ وَجَلَّ لَكَتَبْتُهَا .
Sunan Abi Dawud: Book 40, Hadith 68
This hadith is from the Sunan Abi Dawud collection of hadiths. Sunan Abi Dawud is a cornerstone of Sunni Islamic scholarship and one of the six canonical hadith collections. It was meticulously compiled by the renowned scholar Abu Dawud al-Sijistani in the 9th century. The work contains over 4,800 narrations detailing the sayings, actions, and approvals of the Prophet Muhammad (PBUH). These are systematically organized into thematic books focusing on practical aspects of faith, including prayer, purification, fasting, charity, marriage, and civil justice. Its authority is derived from the compiler’s critical methodology, where he often annotated the reliability of each hadith, prioritizing those with strong, authentic chains of transmission for legal matters.
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For more Hadith in Book 40: Prescribed Punishments (Kitab Al-Hudud)