It is, in fact, only stoning. It was narrated from Sa'id ibn al-Musayyib, from Umar, regarding a slave-woman shared between two men, where one of them had intercourse with her: 'He is to be lashed the hadd amount minus one lash.' (9) This was recorded by al-Athram, and Ahmad used it as evidence. Al-Qadi said: 'In my view, this does not necessitate a disagreement regarding tazir according to the text of Ahmad. Rather, the school of thought (madhhab) is that it shall not exceed ten lashes, in following the athar (tradition), except in the case of having intercourse with one's wife's slave-woman, due to the hadith of al-Nu'man, and in the case of the shared slave-woman, due to the hadith of Umar. Everything else remains under the general ruling of the hadith of Abu Burda.' This is a sound position. Once the maximum limit for it is established (10), its minimum is not fixed; for if it were fixed, it would be a hadd. Furthermore, the Prophet (may the peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) fixed its maximum but did not fix its minimum, so one should return to the ijtihad (legal reasoning) of the Imam regarding what he deems appropriate and what the condition of the person requires. Malik said: 'It is permissible to exceed the hadd in tazir if the Imam deems it necessary,' due to what was narrated that Ma'n ibn Za'ida made a ring with the engraving of the seal of the public treasury, then brought it to the keeper of the treasury and took money from it. This reached Umar (may Allah be pleased with him), so he struck him one hundred lashes and imprisoned him. Intercession was made (11) for him, so he struck him another hundred lashes. Intercession was made for him again, so he struck him one hundred lashes and banished him (12). Ahmad narrated with his isnad that Ali was brought the Najashi, who had drunk wine during Ramadan, so he gave him the hadd of eighty lashes, and an additional twenty lashes for breaking the fast in Ramadan (13). It was narrated that Ibn Abbas appointed Abu al-Aswad as his deputy to judge in Basra, and a thief was brought to him who had gathered goods in a house but had not yet taken them out. Abu al-Aswad said: 'You have hurried [the process against] the poor man.' He struck him twenty-five lashes and let him go (14).
(9) Reported by Abd al-Razzaq, in: The Chapter on the slave-woman owned by partners where one of them has intercourse with her, from the Book of Divorce. al-Musannaf 7/358. And Sa'id ibn Mansur, in: The Chapter on the slave-woman who is between two men and one of them has intercourse with her, from the Book of Divorce. al-Sunan 2/57. And Ibn Abi Shaybah, in: The Chapter on the slave-woman owned by two men..., from the Book of Hudud. al-Musannaf 10/9. (10) In B and M: "Akthar" (more). (11) In B and M: "Fukullima". (12) We did not find this in what is available to us. Ma'n ibn Za'ida was one of the generous men of the Arabs; he lived in both the Umayyad and Abbasid eras, so how could he have lived during the time of Umar (may Allah be pleased with him)! See: Wafayat al-A'yan 5/244. (13) Reported by al-Tahawi, in: The Chapter explaining the difficulty regarding what was narrated from the Messenger of Allah (may the peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) from his saying: 'No one shall be whipped more than ten lashes...'. Mushkil al-Athar 3/168. (14) Reported by Ibn Abi Shaybah, in: The Chapter on the thief who is taken before removing the goods from the house, from the Book of Hudud. al-Musannaf 9/477.
