A Muslim man went to the Prophet (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) while he was in the mosque and called him, saying: "O Messenger of Allah, I have committed adultery."
Authentic hadithعن أبي هريرة رضي الله عنه قال: «أَتَى رجل مِنَ المسلمين رسولَ صلى الله عليه وسلم وهو في المسجد فَنَادَاهُ: يا رسول الله، إنِّي زَنَيْتُ، فَأَعْرَضَ عنه، فَتَنَحَّى تِلْقَاءَ وَجْهِهِ فَقَالَ: يا رسول الله، إنِّي زَنَيْت، فأعرض عنه، حَتَّى ثَنَّى ذلك عليه أَرْبَعَ مَرَّاتٍ. فَلَمَّا شَهِدَ عَلَى نَفْسِهِ أَرْبع شهادات: دَعَاهُ رَسُولُ الله صلى الله عليه وسلم ، فَقَالَ: أَبِكَ جُنُونٌ؟ قَالَ: لا، قَالَ: فَهَلْ أُحْصِنْت؟ قَالَ: نَعَمْ، فَقَالَ رَسُولُ الله: اذْهَبُوا بِهِ فَارْجُمُوهُ». قَالَ ابْنُ شِهَابٍ: فَأَخْبَرَنِي أَبُو سَلَمَةَ بنُ عَبْدِ الرَّحْمَنِ. سَمِعَ جَابِرَ بنَ عَبْدِ الله يَقُولُ: «كُنْت فِيمَنْ رَجَمَهُ، فَرَجَمْنَاهُ بِالمُصَلَّى، فَلَمَّا أَذْلَقَتْهُ الْحِجَارَةُ هَرَبَ، فَأَدْرَكْنَاهُ بِالحَرَّةِ، فَرَجَمْنَاهُ».
Abu Hurayrah (may Allah be pleased with him) reported: A Muslim man went to the Prophet (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) while he was in the mosque and called him, saying: "O Messenger of Allah, I have committed adultery." The Messenger of Allah (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) turned his face away from him. So, the man came round (from the other side) towards his face and said: "O Messenger of Allah, I have committed adultery." The Messenger of Allah (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) again turned his face away from him, until the man did this four times. When he testified four times that he had done so, the Messenger of Allah (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) called him, saying: "Do you suffer any form of insanity?" The man replied: 'No.' The Messenger of Allah (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) then asked him: "Are you married?" The man answered: 'Yes.' The Messenger of Allah (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) said (to his Companions): "Take him away and stone him (to death)." Ibn Shihāb said: "Abu Salamah ibn ‘Abdur-Rahmān informed me that he heard Jābir ibn ‘Abdullāh say: ‘I was one of those who stoned him. We stoned him at the place of prayer. When the stones hurt him, he ran away. We caught him in Al-Harrah and stoned him (to death).'"
Explanation
Mā‘iz ibn Mālik al-Aslami (may Allah be pleased with him) went to the Prophet (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) while he was in the mosque and confessed to having committed adultery. The Prophet (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) turned away from him, hoping that he would retract his statement and repent to Allah in secret. Yet, Mā‘iz was angry with himself, and he was determined to purify his soul through the prescribed punishment. Hence, he went to face the Prophet from the other side and again confessed to having committed adultery. The Prophet (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) once more turned his face to the other side, and he kept doing so until Mā‘iz confessed to having committed adultery four times. Afterwards, the Prophet (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) asked him if he was suffering from any form of insanity, and he answered in the negative. The Prophet (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) then asked his family about the state of his mind, and they said that he was fine. The Prophet (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) then asked him if he was (currently or previously) married or a virgin, as the punishment of the virgin does not amount to stoning. He told him that he was married. Furthermore, the Prophet (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) asked him if he had committed complete adultery, and not merely touching or kissing, but the man admitted to having committed complete adultery. After the Prophet (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) had made sure of the veracity of all of those conditions which require the implementation of the legal prescribed punishment, he ordered his Companions to take the man and stone him to death. They took him to Baqī‘ al-Gharqad [a place where the funeral prayer is performed in Madīnah] and stoned him. When he experienced the severity of stoning, he asked to be released and tried to escape death. He ran away as the human soul is unable to bear this. The Companions caught up to him in a place called "Al-Harrah" and continued stoning him until he died (may Allah have mercy upon him and be pleased with him).
Source · Narrated by Bukhari & Muslim
From the Hadith Encyclopedia (hadeethenc.com).