[100x lashes or flogging for adultery]

The genitals of the adulterers will be stretched to the length of thousands, and then snakes and scorpions will be let loose upon them, who will bite their genitals. They will cry out with intense thirst and will say, “Give us water to drink.” Then they will be given to drink boiling pus and dirty blood taken from the genitals of evil women. In consequence of drinking this, the intestines of the adulterers will be cut up into bits, and these bits will start coming out through their anuses. This torture will be inflicted upon them repeatedly for a long time. And the genitals of the adulteresses will be filled with red-hot coals.

Punishments by Marital Status

Unmarried individuals (never married): The punishment is 100 lashes (flogging). This punishment is explicitly mentioned in the Quran ;

ٱلزَّانِيَةُ وَٱلزَّانِى فَٱجْلِدُوا۟ كُلَّ وَٰحِدٍۢ مِّنْهُمَا مِا۟ئَةَ جَلْدَةٍۢ ۖ وَلَا تَأْخُذْكُم بِهِمَا

رَأْفَةٌۭ فِى دِينِ ٱللَّهِ إِن كُنتُمْ تُؤْمِنُونَ بِٱللَّهِ وَٱلْيَوْمِ ٱلْـَٔاخِرِ ۖ وَلْيَشْهَدْ

عَذَابَهُمَا طَآئِفَةٌۭ مِّنَ ٱلْمُؤْمِنِينَ ٢

As for female and male fornicators, give each of them one hundred lashes,1 and do not let pity for them make you lenient in ˹enforcing˺ the law of Allah, if you ˹truly˺ believe in Allah and the Last Day. And let several believers witness their punishment.

(Surah An-Nur, 24:2)

Married individuals (muhsan): The traditional punishment, based on the Hadith (sayings and actions of the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ and his companions), is stoning to death (rajm). This punishment is not explicitly mentioned in the Quran, but most classical Islamic scholars consider the Hadith an authoritative source of law second only to the Quran, and thus accept stoning as a valid prescribed punishment.

If a married man commits adultery with an unmarried woman, the man is stoned to death, while the woman receives 100 lashes.

Evidentiary Requirements

The punishments (known as hudud penalties) have extremely strict evidentiary requirements, making them difficult to enforce in practice. Conviction typically requires one of the following

A confession repeated four times. The person confessing is often encouraged to retract their confession, and if they do, the punishment is not carried out.

The testimony of four free, adult, pious male witnesses who all testify that they directly and explicitly witnessed the actual act of sexual penetration. If fewer than four witnesses come forward, or their testimonies are inconsistent, the witnesses themselves are subject to punishment (80 lashes) for falsehood.

Due to these strict conditions, historical application of the penalty has been rare.

Modern Context

In modern times, there is significant disagreement among Muslim thinkers and a range of implementation in different countries.

Some Muslim-majority countries have incorporated elements of hudud law into their legal codes, and stoning sentences have been issued in places like parts of Nigeria and Saudi Arabia, although they are often overturned on appeal or remain unenforced.

Human rights groups consider stoning a form of execution by torture and advocate against its use.

Many Islamic modernists and certain minority Muslim sects, such as Quranists, reject stoning as a punishment because it is not explicitly stated in the Quran, arguing that the Quran only mandates flogging for zina (fornication/adultery).