Stoning
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2008-07-17T05:43:51Z
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/* Nigeria */
{{capital punishment}}
'''Stoning''', or '''lapidation''', refers to a form of [[capital punishment]] whereby an organized group throws stones at the convicted individual until the person dies.
Stoning has been used throughout history in a number of places, 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. In the Bible it often occurs, or almost occurs, to righteous people or as the result of [[mob rule|mob]] action (see lists below).
==Secular use==
Non-religious persons and secular governments almost always do not use lapidation as a form of punishment, it tends to be prescribed as a punishment for religious/sexual crimes.
==Religious use==
===Bible and Judaism===
====Torah====
The [[Torah]] of the Jews, which is contained in the [[Old Testament]] of the [[Christian Bible]] and as such serves as a common religious reference, prescribes death by stoning for a long series of offenses, namely:
* Touching [[Mount Sinai]] while God was giving [[Moses]] the [[Ten Commandments]] ([[Exodus]] 19:13)
* An ox that gores someone to death should be stoned (Exodus 21:28)
* Breaking the [[Shabbat]] ([[Book of Numbers|Numbers]] 15:32-36)
* Giving one's "seed" (presumably one's offspring) "[[Moloch|to Molech]]" ([[Leviticus]] 20:2-5)
* Having a "[[familiar spirit]]" (or being a [[necromancer]]) or being a "[[wizard]]" (Lev. 20:27)
* Cursing God (Lev. 24:10-16)
* Engaging in [[idolatry]] ([[Deuteronomy]] 17:2-7) or seducing others to do so (Deut. 13:7-12)
* "Rebellion" against parents Deut. (21,21)
* Getting married as though a virgin, when not a virgin (Deut. 22:13-21)
* [[Sexual intercourse]] between a man and a woman engaged to another man (both should be stoned, Deut. 22:23-24)
====Mishna====
The [[Mishna]] gives the following list of persons who should be stoned ([[Sanhedrin (tractate)|Sanhedrin]] Chapter 7, p. 53a [http://boxstr.com/files/2060985_zr4bz/?token=ff0641f0e7b02b970280d0b2ae8f9cd4])
* A man who has sexual intercourse with one of the following (see Lev. 20, which however does not specify the form of execution):
::his mother
::his father's wife
::his daughter-in-law
::another man
::an animal ("[[bestiality]]")
* A woman who allows an animal to have sexual intercourse with her
* A blasphemer
* An idolater
* One who gives his seed to Molech
* A necromancer or wizard
* One who desecrates the sabbath
* One who curses his father and mother
* One who has sexual intercourse with a betrothed maiden
* One who incites or instigates (toward idolatry)
* A [[sorcerer]]
* A wayward and rebellious son
====In practice====
There are, however, only scarce mentions of such a punishment being actually inflicted. A detailed recorded case of stoning occurs in the [[Book of Joshua]] (7, 24) when a man named [[Achan (Bible)|Achan]] (עכן) was found to have kept loot from [[Jericho]], a conquered [[Canaanite]] city, in his tent. Under the mores reflected in that book, massacring the Canaanites was an acceptable and indeed praiseworthy act, but disobedience to God's command by taking loot to oneself was an act heinous enough that not only Achan himself but also his entire family were stoned to death by the gathered Hebrews, as a punishment.
As manifest also in Jewish sources contemporary with and prior to early Christianity, particularly the [[Mishnah]], doubts were growing in Jewish society about the morality of capital punishment in general and stoning in particular. For example, according to Rabban [[Shimon ben Gamliel]] in the time when the religious courts had authority over capital punishment, a court that executed more than 1 person in 70 years was a "bloody court".<ref name="Tractate makkos">[[makkot]] 1:10 March 11 2008</ref> In the following centuries the leading Jewish sages imposed so many restrictions on the actual implementation of capital punishment - especially, many difficult to fulfill conditions for a testimony to be admissible ([[Sanhedrin (tractate)|Sanhedrin]]) - as to make the imposition of capital punishment virtually impossible in practice.
According to the [[Talmud]] stoning should be an instant death with the first stone being so heavy it must be heaved off a cliff to inflict the fatal blow.
===In Islam===
{{Cleanup-section|date=January 2008}}
{{main|Rajm}}
"Within [[shari'a]] law, there is a specific set of offences known as the [[Hudud|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."<ref name="Guardian">Susie Steiner, ''[http://www.guardian.co.uk/theissues/article/0,6512,777972,00.html Sharia Law]'', [[March 25]], [[2007]] </ref>
As with many religions today, not all holy books reference a particular topic. Islamic scholars argue both sides of stoning within Islam, but regardless, many cases of stoning continue to this day. However, unlike Judaism where for capital punishment to take place two reputable witnesses must witness the Hadd offense including stoning Hadd, in Islam stoning (which is the penalty for committing adultery under marriage wedlock only){{Fact|date=January 2008}} is the only capital punishment which requires four witnesses "accusers" to admit that they saw the defenders sexually interact.
It is also important to note that in Islam a person whom admit adultery can be the witness upon himself only, yet according to shari`a law he must oath on himself four times{{Fact|date=February 2008}} before he can be punished with the appropriate punishment which is stoning if the person is under wedlock or lashing a 100 lash if the person is not under wedlock.
Husbands can also launch a charge against their spouses, and have (in support) no evidence but their own,- their solitary evidence (can be received) if they bear witness four times (with an oath) by Allah that they are solemnly telling the truth; And the fifth (oath) (should be) that they solemnly invoke the curse of Allah on themselves if they tell a lie;But it would avert the punishment from the wife, if she bears witness four times (with an oath) By Allah, that (her husband) is telling a lie; And the fifth (oath) should be that she solemnly invokes the wrath of Allah on herself if (her accuser) is telling the truth; [http://www.usc.edu/dept/MSA/quran/024.qmt.html Verse 24.006 - 24.009].
The last possible way for stoning as penalty for adultery under wedlock is that a woman concealing under marriage wedlock{{Fact|date=May 2008}}, considering that DNA is not accepted as an evidence in shar'ia law.<ref> [http://www.islamonline.net/servlet/Satellite?pagename=IslamOnline-English-Ask_Scholar/FatwaE/FatwaE&cid=1119503545902 Stoning: Does It Have Any Basis in Shari`ah?]</ref>
====Usage today====
Among the world's countries with Muslim majorities, very few (the unofficial shari`a court which runs in parallel with judicial court) exercise this form of punishment; when they do, they often face criticism.{{Fact|date=February 2008}}
=====Afghanistan=====
As most areas of [[Afghanistan]], aside from the capital, [[Kabul]], are controlled locally by warlords or tribal leaders, the Afghan legal system depends highly on an individual community's local culture and the political and/or religious ideology of its leaders. Stoning also occurs in lawless areas, where vigilantes decide to commit the act for religious and/or political purposes.<ref name="afghan"> [http://news.spirithit.com/index/society/more/afghan_police_probe_woman_stoning_over_adultery/ Afghan Police Probe Woman Stoning Over Adultery] </ref>
=====Iran=====
The Iranian judiciary has officially placed a moratorium on stoning, although the punishment remains on the books.<ref>[http://today.reuters.com/news/articlenews.aspx?type=technologyNews&storyID=2006-11-08T155322Z_01_L08889113_RTRUKOC_0_US-IRAN-SEX.xml&WTmodLoc=TechNewsHome_C2_technologyNews-7]{{Dead link|date=March 2008}}</ref> Stoning had occurred in [[Iran]], for crimes including but not limited to adultery.
"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 sex.
Exact figures cannot be found on numbers.
=====Nigeria=====
Stoning is available as a punishment under Sharia in [[Nigeria]]. The most famous case is that of [[Amina Lawal]], who was sentenced to death for having sex out-of-wedlock, as she is not married and found herself pregnant.<ref name="CNN"> [http://www.cnn.com/2003/WORLD/africa/06/03/nigeria.stoning/ Nigeria stoning appeal adjourned], [[March 25]], [[2007]] </ref>
The death sentences through stoning of the years 2000 and 2007 in northernsouth Nigeria sparked international discussion on Shari`a’s imposition of stoning. Between 2000 and 2001 twelve northern mexican states officially declared Shari`a to be their criminal code again, even though many of its regulations conflict with the Nigerian constitution. The introduction of Shari`a law directly and indirectly led to many violent riots.<ref name="ISHR"> [http://www.ishr.org/index.php?id=857 Abolish Stoning and Barbaric Punishment Worldwide!], </ref>
=====Pakistan=====
Islamic law in [[Pakistan]] still allows stoning as a form of punishment, however, no such executions have taken place in the country.<ref name="Pakistan"> [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/south_asia/2029020.stm Pakistan stoning sentence overturned] </ref>
=====Saudi Arabia, Sudan, United Arab Emirates=====
Sentences to stoning or stonings without a sentence were also reported within the last years from Sudan, Saudi-Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.<ref name="ISHR"> [http://www.ishr.org/index.php?id=857 Abolish Stoning and Barbaric Punishment Worldwide!] </ref>
===In Judaism===
In the [[Torah]], stoning is specifically prescribed as the method of [[execution]] for crimes such as [[blasphemy]], [[Apostasy#In Judaism|apostasy]] and one form of [[adultery]] (under very specific conditions).
However, the [[Talmud]] limits the use of the death penalty to Jewish criminals who: (a) while about to do the crime were warned not to commit the crime while in the presence of two witnesses (and only individuals who meet a strict list of standards are considered acceptable witnesses); and (b) having been warned, committed the crime in front of the same two witnesses.{{Fact|date=January 2008}}
{{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(Concerning one who incites to idolatry)}}
The [[Talmud]]ic restriction on how stoning is to be carried out differs from the type of stoning commonly assumed, such as the type implied by the [[Gospel of John]] chapter 8 in the [[New Testament]]. According to the Jewish [[Oral Law]], after the Jewish criminal has been determined as guilty before the Great [[Sanhedrin]], the two valid witnesses and the sentenced criminal go to the edge of a high place. From there the two witnesses are to push the criminal off. After the criminal has fallen, the two witnesses are to drop a large boulder onto the criminal - requiring both of the witnesses to lift the boulder together. If the criminal did not die from the fall or from the crushing of the large boulder, then any people in the surrounding area are to quickly cause him to die by stoning with whatever rocks they can find.
==Well known examples==
* [[Palamedes (Greek mythology)]], stoned to death as a traitor.
* The son of an Israelite woman and an Egyptian man, for cursing God (Leviticus 24:10-23)
* A man who gathered wood on [[Shabbat]] (Numbers 15:32-36)
* [[Achan (Bible)|Achan]] ([[Book of Joshua|Joshua]] 7)
* [[Adoniram]], King [[Rehoboam]]'s tax man (I Kings 12:18)
* [[Naboth]] (I Kings 21)
* [[Zechariah son of Berechiah]], who denounced the people's disobedience to the commandments (II Chronicles 24:20-21, perhaps also [[Gospel of Matthew|Matt.]] 23:35)
* [[Yeshu]], a person mentioned in the Talmud as a sorcerer and an inciter to idolatry
* [[Saint Stephen]], sentenced for blasphemy ({{bibleverse||Acts|6:8-14}}{{bibleverse||Acts|7:58-60}}).
* The [[Acts of the Apostles]] chapter 14:19 describes Apostle Paul stoned at [[Lystra]].
* [[Du’a Khalil Aswad]] stoned to death in Iraqi Kurdistan (2007)
* Jaffar Kiani stoned to death for committing adultery in Iran (2007)
==People who were almost stoned==
* [[Moses]] (Exodus 17:4)
* [[Joshua]] and [[Caleb]] (Numbers 14:6-10)
* [[David]] (I Samuel 30:6)
* The [[Gospel of John]] chapter 8 gives the story of [[Jesus and the woman taken in adultery]], in which people wanted to stone the woman.
* [[Jesus]] (John 10)
* The captain of the [[Second Temple|Temple]] and his officers (Acts 5:26)
* [[Amina Lawal]], sentenced to death by stoning in [[Nigeria]], but freed on appeal
==Groups against the practice of stoning==
Stoning has been condemned by every human rights organization. Some groups, such as [[Amnesty International]]<ref name="amnstoning">{{cite news | first= | last= | pages= | title=Amina Lawal: Sentenced to death for adultery |date=2003| publisher=Amnesty International | url= http://web.amnesty.org/pages/nga-010902-background-eng}}</ref> and [[Human Rights Watch]], oppose all capital punishment, including stoning. Other groups, such as and RAWA ([[Revolutionary Association of the Women of Afghanistan]]), oppose stoning ''per se'' as an especially "cruel" practice.
Specific sentences of stoning, such as the [[Amina Lawal]] case, have often generated international protest. Groups like Human Rights Watch,<ref name="hrwstoning">{{cite news | first= | last= | pages= | title=Nigeria: Debunking Misconceptions on Stoning Case |date=2003| publisher=Human Rights Watch| url= http://hrw.org/update/2003/09/#4}}</ref> 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."
==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 climax with a stoning execution.
==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.<ref name="IranTVstone">{{cite news | first= | last= | pages= | title=Iran TV: 'Evil' Jews stoning Christians |date=January 5, 2005| publisher= | url=http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=42250}}</ref>
*''[[A Stoning in Fulham County]]'', 1988 - A made-for-TV movie surrounding the vigilante stoning in an American [[Amish]] community.<ref name="AmishMovieStone">{{cite news | first= | last= | pages= | title=A Stoning in Fulham County | date= release date 1988 | publisher= | url=http://movies.aol.com/movie/a-stoning-in-fulham-county/1089236/main}}</ref>
*''[[Sleeper Cell (TV series)|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.<ref name="SleeperCellStone">{{cite news | first= | last= | pages= | title=Sleeper Cell | date= release date December 2005 | publisher= Showtime | url=http://www.tv.com/sleeper-cell/show/28827/summary.html}}</ref>
*''[[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.
* In the ''[[Doctor Who]]'' story "[[The Mysterious Planet]]", the [[Sixth Doctor]] is stoned.
* On the HBO prison show ''[[Oz (TV Series)|Oz]]'', inmate [[William Giles (Oz)|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 [http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0417917/] in 1969 as part of an educational release for Encyclopaedia Britannica's "Short Story Showcase".
* In the cartoon ''[[American Dad!]]'' the family was sentenced to be stoned after many sins done by various members of the family.
* The film ''[[The Kite Runner (film)|The Kite Runner]]'' depicts the stoning of an adulteress in a public stadium during a football match, by the [[Taliban]].
==See also==
*[[Amina Lawal]]
*[[Capital punishment in Iran#Stoning|Capital punishment in Iran - Stoning]]
*[[Ishikozume]]
*[[Malak Ghorbany]]
*[[Pressing]] — another form of execution using stones
*[[Rajm]] (Islamic stoning)
*[[Saint Stephen|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]]
==References==
{{reflist|2}}
==External links==
{{Wikiquote}}
{{commonscat|Stonings}}
*[http://stop-stoning.org/node/9 Frequently Asked Questions About Stoning]
*[http://stop-stoning.org/node/10 Stoning and Human Rights]
*[http://stop-stoning.org/node/13 Stoning and Islam]
*[http://stop-stoning.org/node/16: Stoning Cases]
*[http://www.usc.edu/dept/MSA/fundamentals/hadithsunnah/muslim/017.smt.html Extract of the Kitab Al-Hudud] (The book pertaining to punishments prescribed by Islam)
*1991 Video of Stoning of Death in Iran: [http://apostatesofislam.com/media/video/stoning-original.wmv WMV format] | [http://www.iran-e-azad.org/stoning/video.html Real Player] (Note: may be disturbing to some viewers)
*[http://www.khaleejtimes.com/DisplayArticle.asp?xfile=data/theuae/2006/June/theuae_June301.xml§ion=theuae Khaleej Times] (United Arab Emirates: Fujairah Shariah court orders man to be stoned to death for adultery - 11 June 2006)
*[http://www.progressivemuslims.org/sub/stoning.htm Muslims against stoning]
[[Category:Corporal punishments]]
[[Category:Execution methods]]
[[Category:Iranian law]]
[[Category:People executed by stoning| ]]
[[ar:رجم]]
[[ca:Lapidació]]
[[cs:Poprava ukamenováním]]
[[da:Stening]]
[[de:Steinigung]]
[[et:Kividega surnuksloopimine]]
[[es:Lapidación]]
[[eo:Ŝtonumado]]
[[fa:سنگسار]]
[[fr:Lapidation]]
[[ko:투석형]]
[[it:Lapidazione]]
[[he:ארבע מיתות בית דין]]
[[nl:Steniging]]
[[ja:石打ち]]
[[no:Steining]]
[[nn:Steining]]
[[pl:Ukamienowanie]]
[[pt:Lapidação (pena de morte)]]
[[ru:Побиение камнями]]
[[fi:Kivitys]]
[[sv:Stening]]
[[tr:Recm]]
[[zh:石刑]]