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Fatwa CenterThe Islamic corporal punishments are mercy for societies
Question
Hello friend, I find you website very interesting,but I am sorry that I am not a muslim. When you sentence a crimminal to death,I see you carry out a public beheading.Would not hanging be the best way, as we used to do this here in Britain some years ago. Do you still stone a crimminal to death? Peace to you,friend. Raymond.
Answer
All perfect praise be to Allaah, The Lord of the Worlds. I testify that there is none worthy of worship except Allaah, and that Muhammad, sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, is His slave and Messenger.
First of all, we welcome you as a guest in our site and we thank you for visiting it and for your comments on it. We welcome your questions and we ask Allaah to enable you to do that which pleases Him.
As regards your question about beheading as a capital punishment, then you should know that the Prophet Muhammad 
, ordered us to be kind in everything even when killing, as he said: "Allaah prescribed kindness in everything, so if it happens for you to kill (anyone for some justified reason), kill (him/her) humanely (in a perfect and kind manner)."
Capital punishment by a public beheading has two benefits:
1- Killing a person by beheading him is easier for the soul to come out quickly than by hanging him to death. By cutting the pharynx, one dies quicker than by hanging. You should know also that killing in Islamic Law is not restricted to beheading with a sword. The killer is killed in the same manner he killed another person if he deliberately killed him and the family of the victim did not forgive him or agree to take the Diyyah (blood money). This is indeed absolute justice. Allaah Says (what means): {And if you punish [a criminal, O believers], punish with an equivalent of that with which you were harmed. But if you are patient — it is better for those who are patient.}[Quran 16:126]
2- Carrying out this punishment in public acts as deterrence for other criminals and a warning for them against committing an act that necessitates such a punishment so that peace and tranquility would prevail, and people would be safe about their lives, their dignity and their wealth.
As regards your question whether or not Muslims still stone a criminal to death, then the answer is that the Hadd (i.e. the corporal punishment determined by the Islamic Law) is applied in many Muslim countries. With regard to the punishment of stoning to death, it is difficult to prove this [due to the strict conditions]; it is for this reason that stoning to death is hardly applied (for lack of evidence proving such a crime).
Besides, it should be noted that the person who is stoned to death in Islamic Law is the adulterer, and the punishment of stoning to death is adequate to his abominable act. Since his entire body enjoyed what is forbidden for him –while he was able to do this in a legitimate way (i.e. by marriage) –and thus he deserved to be stoned to death so that his entire body would feel the pain in return for the illegal enjoyment which he satisfied himself with. However, there are some conditions to be met for stoning someone to death; these are mentioned in Fatwa 85355.
It should be mentioned that this is more merciful for societies than allowing illegal relationships and the fatal diseases which they cause, like AIDS and other sexually transmitted diseases. Stoning one or two persons may be a sufficient reason for saving millions from an inevitable death and diseases that require many resources and money. In addition to this, in principle an adulterer may not be stoned to death if the conditions for stoning are not met.
It is evident that you are sharp, have a sound reasoning, and like to read, and these are qualities that could lead you to finding the truth of knowing the Creator of this universe and the secret for creating it, and what the Creator wants from His Creation. The answer to all these questions is found in the religion of Islam which is the religion of all the Prophets, may Allaah exalt their mention.
Therefore, we call upon you as a person who is sharp, has a sound reasoning, and is just to impartially read about this religion by reading the translation of the meaning of the Quran and the translation of the biography of the Prophet Muhammad and the books written by the scholars of this religion and the statements of impartial non-Muslims who wrote about Islam.
For more benefit on the merits of Islam, please refer to Fataawa (plural of Fatwa) 85456 and 102075, and Fataawa 81929 and 86091 on the comprehensiveness of the religion of Islam, and to Fataawa 81979, 88906 and 88051 that Islam is the religion of all the Prophets, may Allaah exalt their mention.
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