Lashing: 80-100 Strikes for Various Offenses
While amputation and stoning receive more attention for their brutality, public flogging is actually the most commonly prescribed physical punishment in the Quran. Lashing—also called flogging or whipping—is mandated for multiple offenses, with penalties ranging from 80 to 100 lashes. This punishment, still regularly carried out in numerous Muslim-majority countries, causes severe pain, leaves permanent scars, and in some cases results in death.
The Quranic Prescriptions
The Quran explicitly commands lashing for several offenses:
"The woman and the man guilty of adultery or fornication, flog each of them with a hundred stripes: Let not compassion move you in their case, in a matter prescribed by Allah, if ye believe in Allah and the Last Day: and let a party of the Believers witness their punishment."
Quran 24:2
Notice the specific command: "Let not compassion move you." Those carrying out the flogging are explicitly told to suppress mercy. The punishment must be witnessed by believers, turning it into a public spectacle meant to humiliate and deter.
"And those who launch a charge against chaste women, and produce not four witnesses (to support their allegations), flog them with eighty stripes; and reject their evidence ever after: for such men are wicked transgressors."
Quran 24:4
This verse prescribes 80 lashes for false accusations of adultery. The requirement of four witnesses for proving adultery is so stringent that accusations often cannot be proved, resulting in the accuser being flogged instead.
"O Prophet! When you divorce women, divorce them at their prescribed periods... And those who do not believe in Allah and the Last Day, for them We have prepared a humiliating punishment."
Quran 4:25
For slaves who commit fornication, the punishment is half that of free persons: "then if they commit illegal sexual intercourse after marriage, their punishment is half that for free (unmarried) women" (Quran 4:25). This reveals another troubling aspect: in Islam, punishments vary based on social status.
The Hadith Evidence
Muhammad personally carried out and commanded flogging for various offenses:
"A man from the tribe of Aslam came to Allah's Apostle while he was in the mosque and called him saying, 'O Allah's Apostle! I have committed illegal sexual intercourse.' On that the Prophet turned his face from him to the other side, whereupon the man moved to the side towards which the Prophet had turned his face, and said, 'O Allah's Apostle! I have committed illegal sexual intercourse.' The Prophet turned his face to the other side and the man came to that side. When the man confessed four times, the Prophet called him and said, 'Are you insane?' He replied, 'No, O Allah's Apostle!' The Prophet said (to his companions), 'Go and stone him to death.' The man was a married one."
Sahih Bukhari 8:82:805
"A man was brought to the Prophet and he was told that the man had drunk wine. The Prophet said, 'Beat him!' Abu Huraira said, 'So some of us beat him with our hands, and some with their shoes, and some with their garments (by twisting it) like a lash.'"
Sahih Bukhari 8:81:765
"The Prophet ordered that the man who had drunk wine be beaten. Some people beat him with their hands, some with their shoes, and some with their twisted garments. When he left, a man said, 'May Allah disgrace him!' On that the Prophet said, 'Do not help Satan against your (Muslim) brother.'"
Sahih Bukhari 8:81:770
Note that while Muhammad told people not to curse the drunkard, he did not stop the beating. The man was still flogged; they were simply not to add verbal abuse to physical punishment.
"The Prophet came to us and saw in our mosque an assembly of men showing special regard to a man. He said, 'What is this special regard?' They said, 'A man who is eloquent in interpreting the Quran, Messenger of Allah.' He said, 'Seek knowledge, but do not seek it with vanity; and do not let yourselves be taken in by eloquent speakers. For truly, many have lost their souls by being eloquent speakers.' He was then told that this man was committing fornication and the Prophet said, 'Lash him.'"
Sunan Abu Dawud, partially authenticated
The Method and Practice
Islamic jurisprudence has developed detailed rules about how lashing should be carried out:
The Instrument: Traditional fiqh specifies a medium-sized stick or whip—not so thick as to cause permanent injury to internal organs, but substantial enough to inflict serious pain and mark the skin.
The Manner: The person administering the lashes should use moderate force—not their full strength (which could kill) but hard enough to cause pain. The goal is suffering without death, though deaths do occur.
The Body: Lashes should be distributed across the body, avoiding the face and genitals. However, the back, shoulders, thighs, and legs are all targets, and the cumulative effect of 80-100 strikes across these areas is devastating.
The Position: In many implementations, the victim is tied to a post or made to lie down. They may be partially clothed to allow the lashes to mark the skin while providing minimal protection.
The Audience: As commanded in Quran 24:2, a group of believers must witness the punishment. This public nature adds humiliation to physical agony.
Modern Application
Flogging is not a historical relic. It remains actively practiced across the Muslim world:
- Saudi Arabia: Regularly sentences people to hundreds or thousands of lashes for offenses including adultery, alcohol consumption, and "insulting Islam." Blogger Raif Badawi was sentenced to 1,000 lashes for "insulting Islam" through his writing.
- Iran: The Iranian penal code prescribes flogging for numerous offenses. Thousands of people are flogged annually, often in public. Victims include women not wearing hijab properly, people drinking alcohol, and those engaging in homosexual acts.
- Sudan: Public flogging is common for adultery, alcohol consumption, and dress code violations. Women have been flogged for wearing pants.
- Maldives: Made international headlines when a 15-year-old rape victim was sentenced to 100 lashes for "fornication." (The sentence was later commuted after international outcry.)
- Aceh, Indonesia: The only Indonesian province practicing Sharia law. Floggings are carried out in public for gambling, adultery, alcohol consumption, and same-sex relations, drawing crowds of spectators who record the events on cell phones.
- Northern Nigeria, Brunei, Pakistan, Malaysia: Various regions and provinces in these countries include flogging in their legal codes.
Videos and photos of these floggings regularly appear online, showing the reality of this punishment: people screaming in pain, their backs bloodied and scarred, crowds watching as entertainment, some victims collapsing partway through.
The Physical and Psychological Impact
Medical experts describe the effects of severe flogging:
Immediate Effects: Intense pain, lacerations, bruising, bleeding. The repeated impact causes swelling and tissue damage. Victims often describe feeling like their back is on fire.
Risk of Death: While traditional fiqh aims to avoid killing the victim, deaths do occur. Severe flogging can cause organ damage, internal bleeding, shock, heart attacks, and infections.
Long-term Physical Impact: Permanent scarring, chronic pain, nerve damage. Some victims experience ongoing back problems for life.
Psychological Trauma: The combination of severe pain, public humiliation, and powerlessness causes lasting psychological damage including PTSD, depression, and anxiety.
Social Stigma: Everyone knows what the scars mean. Like amputation, flogging marks the victim as a sinner, affecting employment, marriage prospects, and community relationships.
The Moral Questions
Several disturbing aspects of this punishment system deserve consideration:
Suppressing Compassion: The Quran explicitly commands "Let not compassion move you" (24:2). A religion claiming to worship the "Most Merciful" tells its followers to suppress mercy when punishing others.
Public Humiliation: Requiring witnesses turns punishment into public entertainment. The goal is not just correcting behavior but shaming and degrading the person.
Gender Disparity: In practice, women receive flogging far more often than men for modesty-related offenses. Proving adultery requires four witnesses, which is nearly impossible, so women who report rape sometimes end up flogged for "fornication" when they cannot prove the assault.
Proportionality: Is flogging proportionate to the offenses? A hundred lashes that leave permanent scars for consensual sex between adults? Eighty lashes for a false accusation? The punishment seems designed more for deterrence through fear than for justice.
Biblical Contrast
The Old Testament Law did permit flogging, but with strict limits:
"If the guilty party deserves to be beaten, the judge shall make them lie down and have them flogged in his presence with the number of lashes the crime deserves, but the judge must not impose more than forty lashes. If the guilty party is flogged more than that, your fellow Israelite will be degraded in your eyes."
Deuteronomy 25:2-3
Notice the differences: a maximum of 40 lashes (not 80-100), administered under judicial supervision, with explicit concern that excessive beating would "degrade" the person. Even in punishment, human dignity mattered.
In practice, Jewish law interpreted this so strictly that they gave 39 lashes maximum (to ensure they didn't accidentally exceed 40), and the punishment was rarely used. By the time of Christ, flogging was more associated with Roman brutality than Jewish justice.
When Jesus was flogged before His crucifixion, it was by Roman soldiers, not Jewish authorities:
"Then Pilate took Jesus and flogged him."
John 19:1
The Gospel writers present this flogging as an injustice, part of the suffering the innocent Christ endured for our sins. It was brutal Roman punishment, not God's prescribed method of justice.
The New Testament addresses discipline within the church not through physical punishment but through correction, teaching, and if necessary, separation from fellowship:
"Brothers, if anyone is caught in any transgression, you who are spiritual should restore him in a spirit of gentleness. Keep watch on yourself, lest you too be tempted."
Galatians 6:1
The goal is restoration "in a spirit of gentleness," not degradation through public flogging. When serious sin requires discipline, the New Testament prescribes removing the person from church membership (1 Corinthians 5:1-5), not beating them.
Jesus Himself, when faced with a woman caught in adultery—the very offense for which the Quran prescribes 100 lashes—responded with mercy:
"Let him who is without sin among you be the first to throw a stone at her... Neither do I condemn you; go, and from now on sin no more."
John 8:7, 11
The Punishment Multiplier
One particularly troubling aspect of Islamic flogging is that sentences can be multiplied far beyond the Quranic prescriptions. While the Quran specifies 80 or 100 lashes for specific offenses, Islamic courts often sentence people to hundreds or thousands of lashes, carried out in sessions over months or years.
Raif Badawi's sentence of 1,000 lashes for blogging is one example. Other cases include thousands of lashes for drug offenses, homosexuality, or repeat offenses. This multiplication has no clear Quranic basis but has become part of Sharia practice.
This reveals a pattern: Islamic law, even when claiming to follow the Quran strictly, often becomes harsher in practice. The minimum becomes a starting point, not a limit.
Questions to Consider
- How does telling people "Let not compassion move you" align with Islam's claim to be a religion of mercy?
- Is public flogging that leaves permanent scars proportionate to offenses like adultery or drinking alcohol?
- What does it say about a legal system that turns punishment into public entertainment?
- If many modern Muslims find flogging barbaric, what does this say about the timelessness of Quranic commands?
- How can a punishment that causes lasting physical and psychological trauma be called justice?
- Which approach better reflects divine character—Jesus' response of mercy and restoration, or Muhammad's command to flog without compassion?
- Why would an all-merciful God prescribe punishments that He explicitly says should be carried out without mercy?
- Can a system that permanently scars people for moral offenses be reconciled with human dignity and the possibility of redemption?