24.2 – The adulterous woman and the adulterous man – flog each one of them a hundred lashes

The Quran prescribes the punishment for adultery as one hundred lashes. The Arabic verb zanā can also mean to fornicate, and translators are divided on how to render the verb in this case. This is the only verse in the Quran that specifies a punishment for adultery (zinā’). A different verse deals with sexual immorality (fāḥisha, 4.15).

In contrast, the punishment for adultery in Islamic Law is death by stoning. The clash between the Quran’s punishment and early Muslim understandings sparked a crisis among the jurists who formulated Islamic Law. Most jurists chose the punishment of stoning rather than flogging, based on what they understood to be the practice (sunna) of Muhammad. Some early Muslim figures claimed that a verse commanding stoning for adultery had once been part of the Quran.

In any case, the Quran warns against letting compassion or “pity” divert from “the religion of Allah” when punishing the guilty pair. For more on how the Muslim tradition has connected the stoning punishment to Muhammad’s example, see the comments at 5.41.