Practice and Malpractice of Stoning
By
Faruk Sarkinfada
As I passed by a wall built of mud, one evening, a pebble landed on my forehead. It was a lizard climbing up the wall that scratched over a loosed pebble with, its claws that actually threw the pebble on me. As I joggled over and continued, I began to wonder and ponder on how and why I became a victim of stoning by a lizard. Could it be a coincidence? Probably yes. But as I remembered how David smote Goliath with a stone on his forehead, causing the stone to sink into the forehead and killed him, I thought once again about the 'stone'. I reflected on the mysteries and miracles attached to the practice of stoning, in the light of the stoner, the stoned and, the reason behind stoning, hence, my curiosity to seek for a better understanding of the practice and malpractice of stoning.
I reflected over a few incidences of 'Divine stoning', where God bestowed power on stones, using them as tools for the destruction of rebels of various sorts. The people of Prophet Lot (A. S), the Sodom and Gomorrah, for their act of unnatural lust and promiscuity, were destroyed by laying their town upside down and letting loose upon them a shower of clay stones. In the like manner, Abyssinian army (Companions of Elephants) in the year 570 A. D., for their treacherous attempt to destroy the Ka'abah in Mecca were destroyed by way of sending against them flights of birds, striking them with stones of baked clay, making them like an empty field of stalks and straw, which had been eaten up.
I reflected further upon the power bestowed on stone in making a small party prevail over a larger one, as depicted in the Holy Bible (I Samuel 17: 34-51) and in the Holy Quran (Surah Baqarah: 246-251), where God made David (Daud) prevail over Goliath and his troop, with a sling and a stone. Before approaching Goliath (Jalut), David was armed by Saul (Talut) with armor, a sword and a helmet of brass. But he puts them off him and said to Saul: "I cannot go with these for I have not proved them…if God denies me victory, this sword and spear cannot offer me any help. Allow me fight the way I wish". He took his staff in his hand and chose five smooth stones out of the brook, and put them in a shepherd’s bag, with a sling in his hand and drew near to Goliath, who bears a sword, a spear and a shield ... and when Goliath arose and drew near to meet David, he took out a stone and slang it and smote Goliath in his forehead, that the stone sunk into his forehead and he fell upon his face to the earth.
The mystery attached to David's procedure of stoning is astonishing. He was said to have recited, "in the name of the Lord of Abraham" before placing the first stone on the sling; "in the name of the Lord of Isaac", before placing the second and "in the name of the Lord of Jacob" before placing the third. The three stones then merged and became one by the power of God such that when he smote Goliath on the forehead, it sunk and passed out from his nape and shattered again so that it shot and perished the entire troop behind him. It was a similar miracle that was given to the Holy Prophet Muhammad (S. A. W) during the battle of Badr, when God Almighty shot and perished troops of unbelievers with just a handful of stones from the noble palms of the Holy
Prophet Muhammad (S. A. W). Thus: "It was not you (Muhammad), but Allah, who slew them. It was not you who threw at them. Allah threw at them so that He might richly reward the faithful." (Anfal: 8:17)
Sayyidi Muhammad al-Busiri, in his Hamziyya, relates: He threw with stones and destroyed troops (But) neither were the stones with him Nor (by him were their) access.
Shaykh Ibrahim Niyas, Sahibul Faidah adds in his Diwan:
He destroyed troops with a throw from his palm What a wonderful throw that destroys. I again recognized yet another model of Divine stoning where the devils, who use to sit in hidden stations in the lower heavens in order to eavesdrop, suffer 'throws' with comets that are made as lamps to decorate the heavens and as missiles for pelting them (Surah Mulk 67:5). This reminds me of yet another episode where stones were used as missiles by Abraham (A. S.) for pelting the evil deception of the greater devil, Satan. When Abraham was instructed by God Almighty to sacrifice his son Ishmael, and was prepared to execute the command, Satan was said to have attempted deceiving him saying, "I swear to God it was Satan who appeared in your dream and instructed you to sacrifice your son". But being what he was, Abraham: a Prophet, Messenger and Friend of God; forbearing, tender-hearted, devout and in fact a 'nation' and a leader of mankind who earned God's commendation for fulfilling all that He commanded him, rejected the evil whisper of the devil, casting stones against him. When Abraham and his son Ishmael had surrendered themselves to God's will, and was just about to sacrifice the son, God called him saying:
"Abraham, you have fulfilled your vision. Thus we ransomed him with a noble sacrifice and bestowed on him (the praise) of later generations. 'Peace be on Abraham' thus we reward the righteous. He was one of our believing servants." (Q37:103-110)
Today, as part of pilgrimage rites, pilgrims spend three nights at Mina, stoning three pillars symbolic of Devils and sacrificing an animal as a gesture of renunciation and thanksgiving, and their commemoration of the poor and of Abraham who was willing to sacrifice his son, Ishmael. This sacrifice is also observed worldwide as part of the rites of Ed-el-Adha, which unites Muslims the world over. I remembered a dialogue between Shaykh Junaidus-salik and a man who had just returned from pilgrimage: Junaid asked him, "When you went to Mina, did all your wishes (Muna) cease?" the man answered "No"; "Then you have not visited Mina."; "When you reached the slaughter place and made sacrifice, did you sacrifice the objects of the world desire?"; he answered "No." "Then you have not sacrificed."; "When you threw the pebbles, did you throw away whatever sensual thoughts were accompanying you?" he answered "No" again. Junaid concluded, "Then you have not yet thrown the pebbles and you have not yet performed the pilgrimage." In my analysis of the first four models of Divine stoning highlighted above, God perished a party of humans and that of devils for an evil conduct on one hand, while making small parties victorious over larger ones on the other hand. In Abraham-Satan episode, Abraham stoned Satan in order to cast away the evil of his diversionary temptation in defense of his faith and devotion to God's commandments.
Could my stoning by a lizard belong to any of these models of stoning? Certainly not! Then could it be a form of punitive stoning? For what possible offence could a Lizard stone me? In both the Christian and Islamic faiths there are some capital human offences that whoever commits them should be put to death by stoning in public so that no one could ever have interest in even approaching them. Such offences are adultery, homosexuality, and (in the Old Testament) drunkenness. In this context, stoning to death as a punitive measure for capital offences aids in casting away the evils of such offences from the society. Let me then change my line of reasoning. I then began to view stoning from the positive angle. The first episode that came to my mind was the "Ta'if episode", in relation to the Holy Prophet Muhammad (S. A.W.) and the people of Ta'if town near Mecca. This event represents a model of the malpractice and, an evil act of stoning on the part of the stoners and, a blessing on the side of the one aimed at. It happened to the Holy Prophet (S.A.W) in the first of the two phases of his life in the physical world, which is marked by trials that extended over a period of thirteen years. During such period, the Holy Prophet (SAW) demonstrated in practice, all the high qualities which a perfectly righteous person should exhibit at such a time, such as trust in Allah, perfect sincerity under sufferings, steadfastness in carrying out of duties and fearless courage, so that during this phase, those high moral qualities might be illustrated which could not be displayed in the abundance of authority in the second phase of his life.
It was at the peak of the period of hatred, rejection and persecution by the Quraish, coupled with the deaths of his grandfather Abdul Mutallib, and his uncle Abu Talib, who were assumed to be his protectors that the Prophet (S. A. W) seemed to have more courage and steadfastness on his course of calling to God. In that year, the "year of sorrow" to the Holy Prophet (S. A. W), he traveled to Ta'if for the call. He met the people arrogant and stubborn, rejecting his calling them to believe in one God, cease idolatry, adultery, magic, alcoholism, burying female infants alive, injustice, robbery together with other crimes and evil conducts. Due to their sense of feeling 'offended' they instructed children and fools among them to throw stones at him. In return, the generous Prophet (S. A. W) prayed: " Oh God, forgive them for they know not what they do."
It is therefore vividly clear that it was lack of awareness of his being sent by God that made them attempt what they did to him. Although, God enforced His Prophets with miracles as a proof of their prophethood to their people, many people are shielded from seeing or perceiving such miracles as signs of prophethood, at times dismissing it as magic. For this reason identifying a Prophet or a righteous servant of God, with an inner virtuous quality among men, is often difficult because their human features stand as a shield to the ignorant, veiling them from identifying them. Ibni Ata'allah said:
"God veils the light of secrets with the physical forms because of its value and in order not to be corrupted if exposed". The "light of secrets" here implies sacred knowledge and virtues bestowed in the inner being of a Prophet or a chosen servant of God, while the "physical forms" imply the human qualities such as eating, drinking, etc, which makes them appear like ordinary men. Hence sacred virtues are hardly obvious and are at times doubted or denied by those shielded from it. Such doubts were depicted in the holy Quran where unbelievers were reported to have proclaimed: "How is it that this Apostle eats food and walks about the market places? Why has no angel been sent down with him to warn us? Or (why) has no treasures been given to him, no garden to provide his sustenance?" and the wrongdoers say: "The man you follow is surely bewitched" (Furqan 25:7-8) Several other verses of the Holy Quran (Q14: 11-12; Q21:3) depicted same. In the Holy Bible, such kind of doubt was expressed by the Jews in John 10: 23- 26, when Jesus walked in the temple on Solomon's porch and the Jews came round about him and said unto him, How long dost thou make us to doubt? If though be the Christ tell us plainly. Jesus answered them "I told you, and ye believe not: the works that I do in my father's name, they bear witness of me. But ye believe not, because ye are not my sheep, as I said unto you". It is therefore never surprising that the people of Ta'if did what they did to he Holy Prophet (S. A. W) out of ignorance and their act of stoning was a good model of a malpractice of stoning.
At present, stones maintain their virtues and remain viable weapons of the weak whose strength is with God, and who are denied justice. Prominent champions of the use of stones as missiles are the Palestinians in their struggle against the Jewish forces of occupation of their land. Although, this practice apparently signifies their lack of modern weapons, its symbolic meaning is concrete: stones when casted more often land on an evil subject. The Jews themselves are a symbol of evil, as God described them in the Holy Quran as "those who invited His wrath". In this context, the Jews are aptly well-deserved targets of stoning.
In Nigeria, it is just of recent that the masses seem to discover the value and virtues of stones. As Dr. Aliyu Tilde rightly stated in his Friday Discourse, "Pebbles are gaining popularity among the masses who do not have any share of air time in the government controlled media; neither do they posses any ammunition to fire those who betrayed them among their elected representatives"
Currently, the prime victim and most liable to stoning among Nigerian leaders is His Excellency, the Vice President Atiku Abubakar. He has been aimed at with stones on many occasions in less than one year by the masses in the northern part of the country: Kachia, Kafanchan, Adamawa and Kano. Various interpretations were advanced on the possible reasons of such act, the majority of which have a political dimension. However, in an attempt to coin it as a "malpractice of stoning" the Finance Minister, Adamu Ciroma, brainlessly simulated the episode of stoning of Atiku in Kano with "Ta'if episode". Indeed, imperceptive and a malpractice of utterance was that opinion. The old man should understand the fundamental differences between the two, few of which are: (1) Unlimited is the gap between the Prophet of God and ordinary Atiku (2) At "if, children and fools among them did it while in Kano, it was sane adults (3) Ta'ifans were ignorant of who they were aiming at, while the Kano people were aware of their target, Atiku, the Vice President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria (4) The Prophet’s mission to Ta'if was Islam, while Atiku's to Kano was Democracy-cum-PDP. A lot more differences could be figured.
In my view, the reason behind the 'Kano Intifadah, to borrow Tilde's term, is less of politics. I base my own interpretation on the root cause of some individual's enmity to Atiku's in Kano and other places in northern Nigeria where similar episodes happened. Atiku had been tainted by his seemingly 'anti-Sharia' utterances and attitudes right from inception as well as his being a party to Obasanjo's apparent failure at present. When the clamor for Sharia in Northern Nigeria was high (2000/2001), it was recognized as the influence of their belief in the system as a solution to the socio- political and economic problems in the Muslim community. The role that Atiku attempted to play at that period was perceived and interpreted by many, as diversionary and deceptive. For instance his "let's revert back to the status quo ante" opinion and his alleged utterances that may imply his being non- Sharia compliant. I want to believe that this forms the major reason for aiming at the Vice President with stones in some parts of Northern Nigeria, in defense of their faith and devotion to the commandment of God. On this scenario, one may wish to relate the 'Kano Intifadah&' in its context, to any other suitable model of stoning, but not the "Ta'if episode". I respect the opinion of scholars like Aminuddeen Abubakar in describing Ciroma's utterance, verbal diarrhea, as grave mistake, if not blasphemy! Let me not digress from the main subject: searching for the possible reason of my being stoned by a lizard. I was not able to arrive at a convincing answer until late at night when I retired to my bed. In my usual review of all my activities of the day, such that I weigh the good ones against the bad ones in order to predict my destiny if I may die while sleeping, I first of all recalled that I did not pray my Subhi prayer of that day until after sunrise. It also occurred to me that my Zuhr and Asr prayers were not offered in congregation. I began to interpret that act of stoning as a signal, an inspiration of caution by God, that my day had not been orderly. I regretted and lamented upon that and composed a stenza:
When you are stoned by any being
A lizard, an ant or human being,
Ponder over on your deeds
Is the casting of stone malpracticed
Or is your conduct a malpractice