STONING
- + Add to Faves
- + Translate
- + Share
العربية
ä¸å›½
Français
Deutsch
Ελληνική
हिनà¥à¤¦à¥€
Italiano
日本語
Português
РуÑÑкий
Español
'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.
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.
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.
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."
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 adultery is no longer worthy of capital punishment, or that capital punishment itself is possibly no longer necessary.[4]
Usage today
As there are currently no Christian traditions which are vested with civil power, Christianity lacks courts with jurisdiction to impose punishments like stoning.
In Islam
Main articles: 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]
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 49 states with Muslim majorities, and very few of them (the unofficial sharia court which runs in parallel with judicial court) exercises this form of punishment and often with tremendous criticism worldwide.
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 communities' 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. [6]
Iran
Stoning is the law of the land for 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 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."[7]and is also much less harsh and more ceremonial than a man's whipping.
Nigeria
Stoning is a possible punishment under Sharia in Nigeria. The most famous case is of Amina Lawal, who was sentenced to death for having sex-out-of-wedlock, as she is not married and found herself pregnant. [8]
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. [9]
Pakistan
Islamic law in Pakistan still allows Stoning as a form of punishment, however, none have taken place in the country. [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. [9]
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. [9]
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. [9]
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. [9]
In Judaism
In the Torah, stoning is specifically prescribed as the method of execution for crimes such as blasphemy and apostasy, and in ''some'' cases adultery.
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. Only individuals whose lives line up with a strict list of standards are considered acceptable witnesses; and b) persisted in committing the crime also in front of the same two witnesses after having between warned.
The Talmudic 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.
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.
Even when the above conditions allowing for stoning are met according to historical Jewish Law, judicial executions are only allowed at a time when the Great Sanhedrin is established on the Temple Mount with the Temple.
Well known examples
★ Palamedes (Greek mythology), stoned to death as a traitor.
★ Saint Stephen, sentenced for blasphemy ().
★ Princess Misha'al bint Fahd al Saud
★ 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)
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.
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 [15].
★ A Stoning in Fulham County, 1988 - A made-for-TV movie surrounding the vigilante stoning in an American Amish community [16].
★ 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. [17].
★ ''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'', 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.
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
References
1. Amina Lawal: Sentenced to death for adultery
2. Iran: Another woman sentenced to death by stoning
3. Nigeria: Debunking Misconceptions on Stoning Case
4. Father CantalamessaFather Cantalamessa on Families, March 25, 2007
5. Susie SteinerSharia Law, March 25, 2007
6. Afghan Police Probe Woman Stoning Over Adultery,
7. Stoning to Death in Iran:
A Crime Against Humanity
Carried Out By the Mullahs' Regime
8. Nigeria stoning appeal adjourned, March 25, 2007
9. Abolish Stoning and Barbaric Punishment Worldwide!,
10. Pakistan stoning sentence overturned,
11. Abolish Stoning and Barbaric Punishment Worldwide!,
12. Abolish Stoning and Barbaric Punishment Worldwide!,
13. Abolish Stoning and Barbaric Punishment Worldwide!,
14. Abolish Stoning and Barbaric Punishment Worldwide!,
15. Iran TV: 'Evil' Jews stoning Christians
16. A Stoning in Fulham County
17. Sleeper Cell
External links
★ 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
This article provided by Wikipedia. To edit the contents of this article, click here for original source.
psst.. try this: add to faves
