UCLA

This dissertation seeks to shed light on the beginnings of the process by which stoning became an Islamic punishment for certain forms of zinā. By analyzing the isnāds and matns of selected stoning reports, this project endeavors to shed light on the significance of various transmitters, the provenance and importance of certain motifs, and the role that the Prophet and others played in helping to incorporate zinā stoning into the Islamic legal tradition. This project also demonstrates that it is highly plausible a historical moment existed when zinā stoning was not applicable to Muslims.