Stoning, or lapidation, refers to a form of capital punishment execution method carried out by an organized group throwing stones or rocks at the person they mean to execute. Electric chair as used for electrocutions. ...

Stoning has been used throughout history in a number of places as a form of capital punishment, both in the form of community justice and also as a judicial form of capital punishment. The practice is referred to in Greek history, as well as Christian, Jewish, and Islamic texts. Capital punishment, or the death penalty, is the execution of a convicted criminal by the state as punishment for crimes known as capital crimes or capital offences. ...

Groups against the practice of stoning

Stoning has been condemned by every human rights organization. Some groups, such Amnesty International ^[1] and Human Rights Watch, oppose all capital punishment, including stoning. Other groups, such as NCRI (the National Council of Resistance in Iran)^[2], and RAWA (Revolutionary Association of the Women of Afghanistan), oppose stoning per se as an especially "cruel" and "sexist" practice. Amnesty International (commonly known as Amnesty or AI) is a pressure group that promotes human rights. ... Human Rights Watch Banner Human Rights Watch is a United States-based international non-government organization that conducts research and advocacy on human rights. ... To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article or section may require cleanup. ... Logo of the Revolutionary Association of the Women of Afghanistan The Revolutionary Association of the Women of Afghanistan (RAWA) (جمعیت انقلابی زنان افغانستان) is a womens organization in Afghanistan that promotes womens rights and secular democracy. ...

Specific sentences of stoning, such as the Amina Lawal case, have often generated international protest. Groups like Human Rights Watch ^[3], while in sympathy with these protests, have raised a concern that the Western focus on stoning as an especially "exotic" or "barbaric" act distracts from what they view as the larger problems of capital punishment. They argue that the "more fundamental human rights issue in Nigeria is the dysfunctional justice system." Amina Lawal is a Nigerian single mother. ...

Secular Use

No non-religious court of law recognizes Stoning as a form of legal punishment.

Religious Use

In Christianity

The Old Testament of Christianity, is the Torah of the Jews, and as such they share a common book of religious reference. And while the Old Testament does call for stoning as a punishment, in the teachings of the New Testament Jesus does save an adultress from stoning, drawing possible conclusions that the sin of adultry is no longer worthy of capital punishment, or that capital punishment itself is possibly no longer necessary.^[4] Note: Judaism commonly uses the term Tanakh to refer to its canon, which corresponds to the Protestant Old Testament. ... Christianity percentage by country, purple is highest, orange is lowest Topics in Christianity Movements · Denominations Ecumenism · Preaching · Prayer Music · Liturgy · Calendar Symbols · Art · Criticism Important figures Apostle Paul · Church Fathers Constantine · Athanasius · Augustine Anselm · Aquinas · Palamas · Wycliffe Tyndale · Luther · Calvin · Wesley Arius · Marcion of Sinope Pope · Archbishop of Canterbury Patriarch... “Tora” redirects here. ... This article is about the Christian scriptures. ...

Usage today

Christianity has no religious laws that are set in place like Sharia, and as such have no religious courts in which to pass judgement, and or punishment. Sharia (Arabic: transliteration: ) is the body of Islamic law. ...

In Islam

Main article: Rajm

"Within sharia law, there is a specific set of offences known as the Hadd offences. These are crimes punished by specific penalties, such as stoning, lashes or the severing of a hand. The penalties for Hadd offences are not universally adopted as law in Islamic countries." ^[5] Rajm is an Arabic term that means to stone. ...

Like many religions today, not all holy books reference a particular topic. Islamic scholars argue both sides of the stoning within Islam, but the fact remains that many cases of stoning continue to this day.

Usage today

There are currently between forty-nine states with muslim majorities, and in the overwhelming majority of these, Sharia law has some form of validity. Sharia (Arabic: transliteration: ) is the body of Islamic law. ...

Afghanistan

Afghanistan is a country in name only, as a central government that actually controls the country does not exist. The legal system as it stands is either limited in its scope (ie what areas do the government control), or non-existant as the area is lawless or controlled by a warlord. ^[6]

Indonesia

Indonesia introduced Sharia in the province of Aceh and Pakistan in its north-western province. ^[7]

Iran

Stoning is the law of the land for Iran, for crimes including but not limited to adultry. "The penalty for adultery under Article 83 of the penal code, called the Law of Hodoud is flogging (100 lashes of the whip) for unmarried male and female offenders. Married offenders may be punished by stoning regardless of their gender, but the method laid down for a man involves his burial up to his waist, and for a woman up to her neck (article 102). The law provides that if a person who is to be stoned manages to escape, he or she will be allowed to go free. Since it is easier for a man to escape, this discrimination literally becomes a matter of life and death."^[8]and is also much less harsh and more ceremonial than a man's whipping.

Malaysia

In Malaysia two province parliaments decided the introduction of Sharia. ^[7]

Nigeria

Stoning is a possible punishment under Sharia in Nigeria. The most famous case is of Amina Lawal, who was sentanced to death for having sex-out-of-wedlock, as she is not married and found herself pregnant. ^[9] The death sentences through stoning of the years 2001 and 2002 in northern Nigeria have brought up an international discussion on Sharia’s penalty of stoning. Between 2000 and 2001 twelve northern Nigerian states officially declared the Sharia as their criminal code, even though many regulations conflict with the Nigerian constitution. The introduction of Sharia law directly and indirectly led to many violent riots. ^[7]

Pakistan

Islamic law in Pakistan still allows Stoning as a form of punishment. ^[10]

Sentences to stoning or stonings without a sentence were reported within the last years from Afghanistan, Nigeria, Iran, Pakistan, Sudan, Saudi-Arabia and the United Arab Emirates. ^[7]

Saudi Arabia

Sentences to stoning or stonings without a sentence were reported within the last years from Afghanistan, Nigeria, Iran, Pakistan, Sudan, Saudi-Arabia and the United Arab Emirates. ^[7]

Sudan

Sentences to stoning or stonings without a sentence were reported within the last years from Afghanistan, Nigeria, Iran, Pakistan, Sudan, Saudi-Arabia and the United Arab Emirates. ^[7]

United Arab Emirates

Sentences to stoning or stonings without a sentence were reported within the last years from Afghanistan, Nigeria, Iran, Pakistan, Sudan, Saudi-Arabia and the United Arab Emirates. ^[7]

In Judaism

In the Torah, stoning is specifically prescribed as the method of execution for crimes such as murder, blasphemy and apostasy, and in some cases adultery. “Tora” redirects here. ... Look up blasphemy in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... Apostasy (from Greek αποστασία, meaning a defection or revolt, from απο, apo, away, apart, στασις, stasis, standing) is a term generally employed to describe the formal renunciation of ones religion, especially if the motive is deemed unworthy. ... Adultery is voluntary sexual intercourse between a married person and a partner other than the lawful spouse. ...

However, the Talmud limits the use of the death penalty to those criminals who; a)were warned not to commit the crime in the presence of two witnesses, and b)persisted in committing the crime also in front of two witnesses. The first page of the Vilna Edition of the Babylonian Talmud, Tractate Berachot, folio 2a. ...

{{quote:You must certainly put him to death. Your hand must be the first in putting him to death, and then the hands of all the people. You shall stone him to death, because he tried to turn you away from the Lord your God, who brought you out of Egypt out of the land of slavery.|Deuteronomy(13:9-10)}} Deuteronomy is the fifth book of the Hebrew Bible. ...

Usage today

Israel is the only country in the world that has a majority of Jews. Secular law is the law of Israel, and if stoning was attempted, or carried out - everyone associated with the act would be charged with a crime.

Well known examples

• Palamedes (Greek mythology), stoned to death as a traitor.
• Saint Stephen, sentenced for blasphemy (Acts 6:8-14Acts 7:58-60).
• Amina Lawal, sentenced to death by stoning in Nigeria, but freed on appeal
• Du’a Khalil Aswad stoned to death in Kurdistan (2007)
• The Gospel of John chapter 8 describes Jesus and the woman taken in adultery.
• Jaffar Kiani stoned to death for committing adultery in Iran (2007)

In Greek mythology, Palamedes was the son of Nauplius and Clymene. ... “St. ... Amina Lawal is a Nigerian single mother. ... Stills from the video of the stoning of Du’a Khalil Aswad. ... The Gospel of John is the fourth gospel in the canon of the New Testament, traditionally ascribed to John the Evangelist. ... Christ with the Woman Taken in Adultery, by Guercino, 1621 (Dulwich Art Gallery). ...

Stoning in literature

• Shirley Jackson's "The Lottery" depicts a lottery in which one member of a small, isolated American community is stoned to death ritually each year as a sacrifice. It explores themes of scapegoating, man's inherent evil and the destructive nature of observing ancient, outdated rituals.
• Robert A. Heinlein's Stranger in a Strange Land reaches its tension point with a stoning execution.

Shirley Jackson (December 14, 1916 [1]– August 8, 1965) was an influential American author. ... The Lottery is a short story by Shirley Jackson, first published in the June 28, 1948 issue of The New Yorker. ... Robert Anson Heinlein (July 7, 1907 – May 8, 1988) was one of the most popular, influential, and controversial authors of hard science fiction. ... Stranger in a Strange Land is a best-selling 1961 Hugo Award-winning science fiction novel by Robert A. Heinlein. ...

Stoning in film and television

• Seven Sleepers (English translation), 2005 - A series running on Iranian TV, in which medieval (300-400 AD) Jews stone Christians ^[11].
• A Stoning in Fulham County, 1988 - A made-for-TV movie surrounding the vigilante stoning in an American Amish community ^[12].
• Sleeper Cell, 2005 - A Showtime original series. Members of the cell execute (by stoning) one of their members for talking openly with his uncle about planned terrorist attacks. ^[13].
• Monty Python's Life of Brian presents a Jesus of Nazareth-era stoning in a humorous context, ending with a massive boulder being dropped on the Jewish official, not the victim.
• On the HBO prison show Oz, inmate William Giles was sentenced to death. Giles requested that he be stoned to death. This request caused capital punishment to be briefly overturned, only to be brought back with stricter rules.
• Shirley Jackson's "The Lottery" made into a short (20 minute) film by Larry Yust [1] in 1969 as part of an educational release for Encyclopaedia Britannica's "Short Story Showcase".
• In the popular cartoon American Dad! the family was sentenced to be stoned after many sins done by various members of the family.

Monty Pythons Life of Brian is a 1979 comedy written and performed by the Monty Python comedy team. ... This article concerns critical reconstructions of the Historical Jesus. ... Oz was the first one-hour dramatic television series to be produced by HBO. The show, which aired for six seasons (1997-2003), was created by Tom Fontana and produced by Barry Levinson. ... William Giles is a fictional character on HBOs prison drama Oz. ... American Dad! is a satirical American animated television series produced by Underdog Productions and Fuzzy Door Productions for 20th Century Fox. ...

See also

• Amina Lawal
• Capital punishment in Iran - Stoning
• Ishikozume
• Malak Ghorbany
• Pressing — another form of execution using stones
• St. Stephen — Christian martyr who died by stoning
• Stocks — a generally non-lethal punishment that sometimes involved pelting with stones
• Stoning of the Devil
• Shab Qadar Incident

Amina Lawal is a Nigerian single mother. ... The country of Iran was second only to China in the number of public executions carried out with 3400 and 159 respectively. ... This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ... Malak Ghorbany is the name of an Iranian woman under sentence of death by stoning. ... Peine forte et dure, (Law French for strong and hard punishment) was formerly a method of torture in the common law legal system, where the defendant who refused to plead would be subjected to having subsequently larger stones pressed upon the chest until a plea was entered, or as the... “St. ... Topics in Christianity Movements · Denominations Ecumenism · Preaching · Prayer Music · Liturgy · Calendar Symbols · Art · Criticism Important figures Apostle Paul · Church Fathers Constantine · Athanasius · Augustine Anselm · Aquinas · Palamas · Luther Calvin · Wesley Arius · Marcion of Sinope Pope · Archbishop of Canterbury Patriarch of Constantinople Christianity Portal This box:      A Christian () is a person who... Look up Martyr in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... Spes or Hope; engraving by Sebald Beham, German c1540 The stocks are a device used since medieval times for public humiliation, corporal punishment, and torture. ... Bold textStoning of the Devil or stoning of the jamarat (Arabic: ramy al-jamarāt) is part of the annual Islamic Hajj pilgrimage to the holy city of Mecca in Saudi Arabia. ... The Shab Qadar incident was a public stoning of two members of Ahmadiyya Muslim Community in the town of Shab Qadar, in North West Frontier Province, Pakistan in 1995. ...

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to:

Stonings

• Extract of the Kitab Al-Hudud (The book pertaining to punishments prescribed by Islam)
• 1991 Video of Stoning of Death in Iran: WMV format | Real Player (Note: may be disturbing to some viewers)
• 2007 Video of stoning to death in Iraq [2] (Same note as here above).

• Khaleej Times (United Arab Emirates: Fujairah Shariah court orders man to be stoned to death for adultery - 11th of June 2006)
• Muslims against stoning
• On God, Violence and the Bible