perform it, and the Messenger of Allah (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) condemned it. Allah the Almighty said: {And [We had sent] Lot when he said to his people, 'Do you commit such immorality as no one has preceded you with from among the worlds? Indeed, you approach men with desire, instead of women. Rather, you are a transgressing people.} (1). The Prophet (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) said: "May Allah curse whoever does the deed of the people of Lot, may Allah curse whoever does the deed of the people of Lot, may Allah curse whoever does the deed of the people of Lot." (2). There is a difference in the narration from Ahmad (may Allah have mercy on him) regarding his legal punishment. It was narrated from him that his punishment is stoning, whether he is a virgin or previously married. This is the opinion of Ali, Ibn Abbas, Jabir ibn Zayd, Ubayd Allah (3) ibn Ma'mar, al-Zuhri, Abu Habib (4), Rabi'ah, Malik, Ishaq, and one of the two opinions of al-Shafi'i. [The second narration is that his punishment is the punishment of the adulterer. This is the opinion of Sa'id ibn al-Musayyab, Ata', al-Hasan, al-Nakha'i] (5), Qatada, al-Awza'i, Abu Yusuf, Muhammad ibn al-Hasan, and Abu Thawr, and it is the famous of the two opinions of al-Shafi'i, because the Prophet (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) said: "If a man approaches a man, they are both adulterers." (6). This is because it is the insertion of a human sexual organ into a human sexual organ, over which he has no legal ownership or semblance of ownership, so it is adultery, just like insertion into a woman's sexual organ. Once (7) its status as adultery is established, it falls under the generality of the verse and the reports regarding it. Furthermore, it is an immorality, so it is adultery, like the immorality between a man and a woman. It is narrated from Abu Bakr al-Siddiq (may Allah be pleased with him) that he ordered the burning of the sodomite. This is (8) the opinion of Ibn al-Zubayr, due to what Safwan ibn