Woman faces stoning for adultery

[Kang Lang 7]

My link

This story breaks my heart, if there is any doubt about how cruel this practice is, see the movie "The Stoning of Soraya M" based on a true story. I do hope that there is some pressure to not only stop the practice but certainly to save this woman's life. I have no idea whether or not she's guilty of adultery but this, in my opinion is not punishment fitting the crime.

[BethandBilly 86]

Ok I have to say, that is absolutely disgusting, I do not usually like to comment on other countries laws or behaviour, but this I believe deserves a comment. That poor woman, no proof that she ever committed adultery, yet found guilty, seems very wrong to me. The stoning I find totally horrific, such barbarity is downright deplorable. If they go ahead and do this to this woman, I hope to goodness there is one stone, hopefully the initial one that knocks her unconscious so that she feels no pain and slips off to be at peace from such an abusive nation. My heart goes out to this lady and her family.

[Miss smarty pants 84]

My link

This story breaks my heart, if there is any doubt about how cruel this practice is, see the movie "The Stoning of Soraya M" based on a true story. I do hope that there is some pressure to not only stop the practice but certainly to save this woman's life. I have no idea whether or not she's guilty of adultery but this, in my opinion is not punishment fitting the crime.

That's awful. Just really terrible. I hate to just sound really ignorant, but I didn't know countries still really do this. Is Iran the only country that still does this? Does anyone know of others?

[Kang Lang 7]

i have no idea, i truly hope not, it's an awful awful way to end a life. in the article did you notice they use rocks large enough to cause pain but not to cause immediate death. just sickening.

i was watching an indie film from netflix and saw the trailer for "the stoning of soraya m" which prompted me to watch it, what an incredibly powerful movie. i have no ties to mena culture nor any understanding of the language but it has stayed with me for 3 months. i imagine for those that understand the language it's even more powerful since much can be lost in translation.

@bethandbilly, agreed i typically do not like to comment on the laws of other countries, more so in the instance of outsiders who defy law and expect special dispensation. (when in rome, do as the romans do or don't go there) but this is particularly barbaric and cruel and if it is at all like the movie adaptation i watched the male children of the condemned are expected to participate. (i truly hope that was for dramatic effect)

Edited July 6, 2010 by Kang Lang

[Cheryl & Medo 3]

I have seen this movie and OMG!!!! It is things and laws like this that make me rethink about converting to Islam Edited July 6, 2010 by Cheryl & Medo

[Nothing1234 2]

Horrible.

I would hope that laws or cultural norms wouldn't keep a person from making a religious choice.

[Miss smarty pants 84]

Stoning to death has been introduced as a legal form of punishment for the ‘adultery of married persons’ (zina al-Mohsena) in Afghanistan, Iran, Nigeria (about one-third among 36 states), Pakistan, Sudan, and the United Arab Emirates. While the penalty has never been carried out in Nigeria, or by the state in either Pakistan or Iraq, incidents of stoning have been carried out by communities, seemingly encouraged by the existence of the punishment in law.

Link to article... My link

[Kang Lang 7]

I have seen this movie and OMG!!!! It is things and laws like this that make me rethink about converting to Islam

wasn't it an incredible movie? the woman who played soray was AMAZING...do you speak arabic i would love to know if the tranlation was good. i know when i watch movies in my language with subtitles it's rarely correct. same for my husband's language.

as an aside, i know next to nothing about islam but i will say i doubt seriously that this is about islam and the koran but rather human interpretation out of some need to demonstrate control over another person/s. i hope no one can correct me here i would hate to think it is condoned.

[Cheryl & Medo 3]

Horrible.

I would hope that laws or cultural norms wouldn't keep a person from making a religious choice.

So stoning is not in the Quran???? This is a culture thing?

[Darnell 8,478]

So stoning is not in the Quran???? This is a culture thing?

It's a bit more than a 'culture' thing, IMO -

Stoning is a legal punishment, written into the LAW of the countries listed in prior post, above.

Much more than 'culture', at this point.

IMO, always a good thing to see the law carried out, yes? Raises hue and cry across the world, gives more fodder for women's rights organizations, and in the end, something gets done.

If you are sensitive to this type of thing, you really should get involved, make a difference in each country where 'stoning for adultery' is on the law books.

Seriously.

(I do hate to see these types of reports, but until stoning is abandoned or outlawed - it will continue )

[Berber Mama 5]

Are men stoned as well for adultery? For some reason I highly doubt it.

[Crossed_fingers 128]

Are men stoned as well for adultery? For some reason I highly doubt it.

The man may also be stoned, except only buried to his waist, whereas the woman is buried to her chest. I don't know why this is, but at least on the news they said the method the man endures is more merciful than what the woman endures.

[msheesha 548]

http://qa.sunnipath.com/issue_view.asp?HD=1&ID=4208&CATE=42

The link is to information from an Islamic website. Some of the highlights -

The severe punishment outlined is prescribed by Islam as a deterent. The stringent regulations for witnesses, proof, etc makes it almost impossible to prove by Islamic standard to the point of actually carrying out the punishment.

The Hadith describing The Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) instructing stoning was 1 - involving a man, and 2- an incident in which the Prophet attempted to have the man NOT confess and therefore, avoid the punishment.

If instinct dictactes one to think the most negative about their religion of choice, and believe the most negative representation of that religion (i.e. Islamic law being bastardized,etc) imho, it generally means more education about the religion is necessary.

(I make this last comment in all seriousness with the highest respect for any individual's religious journey)

Edited July 8, 2010 by msheesha

[Kang Lang 7]

well to further add to the tragedy of this story it appears that there were no witnessess, and sadly this woman's son was forced to watch as the inital part of her punishment was meted out, 99 lashes.

could be stoned as early as this weekend

"Two of five judges who investigated Sakineh's case in Tabriz prison concluded that there's no forensic evidence of adultery," Mostafaei told the Guardian. "According to the law, death sentence and especially stoning needs explicit evidences and witnesses while in her case, surprisingly, the judge's knowledge was considered as enough," he said.

Edited July 8, 2010 by Kang Lang

[Nothing1234 2]

So stoning is not in the Quran???? This is a culture thing?

The Quran does not prescribe stoning as a punishment for any crime and Islamic scholars are divided over its validity as a punishment for adultery. In Islam, stoning (which is the penalty for a married person committing adultery) is the only capital punishment which requires four credible eye-witnesses. They must swear on oath that they all actually witnessed the penetrative act simultaneously leading to suggestions that the evidentiary burden is set so impossibly high that only self-incrimination could result in a successful sentence.

It is also important to note that in Islam a person who confesses to adultery can be his/her own witness, but that he/she must incriminate him/herself on oath four timesbefore a sentence of stoning can be passed (in the case of a married person) or 100 lashes (if the person is not married).

Among the world's countries with Muslim majorities, only a few of them exercise this form of Islamic Shariah punishment.

There are three cases in the Bible in which a person was stoned to death as a punishment. But there are also five or six cases where someone was stoned by a mob, or not in a legal fashion. However, its been outlawed in many counties thus IMO cultural and/or mob related type mentality.