Short answer
In the Quran and sunnah, an unmarried person proven guilty of zina receives 100 lashes and a married person is stoned. Only a Muslim court can apply these, with very strict proof: four eyewitnesses to the act itself or a repeated free confession. No individual may punish anyone, and sincere repentance removes the sin before Allah.
The hadd for an unmarried free person is 100 lashes, and for a muhsan (a free, adult, sane Muslim who has had intercourse in a valid marriage) it is stoning. It is proven only by four upright male eyewitnesses to the act itself, or by a sane adult's free confession four times in four sittings, and it falls away with any doubt or retraction. Exile is not part of the hadd.
Other madhhabs
- Shafi'i
- The unmarried offender is also exiled for a year as part of the hadd, and a single confession is enough.
- Maliki
- The unmarried man is exiled for a year. Pregnancy of an unmarried woman with no husband or claim of force can count as proof.
- Hanbali
- The unmarried offender is exiled for a year. Confession must be made four times, as with the Hanafis.
Explanation
Zina is one of the few sins for which the Quran names a fixed worldly punishment (hadd). Allah commands a hundred lashes for the unmarried man and woman found guilty (24:2). The sunnah adds stoning for a married person, and the Prophet ﷺ explained this when he said, "Take it from me: Allah has ordained a way for them."
The same law makes proof almost impossible except by open confession.
- Four witnesses. Four upright Muslim men must all have clearly seen the act itself. Anyone who accuses a chaste person without four witnesses is lashed eighty times for slander (qadhf) (24:4).
- Confession. A sane adult must confess freely, four times, in four sittings. The judge should turn him away and suggest doubts, as was done with Ma'iz, who was asked whether he had perhaps only kissed, touched or looked.
- Doubt. Any real doubt drops the hadd, and a person may withdraw his confession before it is carried out.
Who carries it out. Only a Muslim ruler or court with authority. Families, communities and individuals have no right to punish anyone, and doing so is itself a grave crime. Killing in the name of family honour has no basis in the sharia. Muslims who live in non-Muslim countries keep the law of the land.
The aim of these laws is to protect families and public decency, not to search into private lives. A person who sinned in private and repented is forgiven by Allah, and covering the sin is better than confessing it. See repenting from zina and what sharia is.
The evidence
Quran, Surah An-Noor 24:2
ٱلزَّانِيَةُ وَٱلزَّانِى فَٱجْلِدُوا۟ كُلَّ وَٰحِدٍۢ مِّنْهُمَا مِا۟ئَةَ جَلْدَةٍۢ ۖ وَلَا تَأْخُذْكُم بِهِمَا رَأْفَةٌۭ فِى دِينِ ٱللَّهِ إِن كُنتُمْ تُؤْمِنُونَ بِٱللَّهِ وَٱلْيَوْمِ ٱلْءَاخِرِ ۖ وَلْيَشْهَدْ عَذَابَهُمَا طَآئِفَةٌۭ مِّنَ ٱلْمُؤْمِنِينَ ﴿٢﴾
The [unmarried] woman or [unmarried] man found guilty of sexual intercourse - lash each one of them with a hundred lashes, and do not be taken by pity for them in the religion of Allah, if you should believe in Allah and the Last Day. And let a group of the believers witness their punishment.
The Quranic hadd for unmarried people proven guilty of zina.
Quran, Surah An-Noor 24:4
وَٱلَّذِينَ يَرْمُونَ ٱلْمُحْصَنَٰتِ ثُمَّ لَمْ يَأْتُوا۟ بِأَرْبَعَةِ شُهَدَآءَ فَٱجْلِدُوهُمْ ثَمَٰنِينَ جَلْدَةًۭ وَلَا تَقْبَلُوا۟ لَهُمْ شَهَٰدَةً أَبَدًۭا ۚ وَأُو۟لَٰٓئِكَ هُمُ ٱلْفَٰسِقُونَ ﴿٤﴾
And those who accuse chaste women and then do not produce four witnesses - lash them with eighty lashes and do not accept from them testimony ever after. And those are the defiantly disobedient,
An accusation of zina needs four witnesses, or the accuser is punished.
Sahih Muslim 1690
Sahih... خذوا عني خذوا عني قد جعل الله لهن سبيلا ...
"Take it from me, take it from me: Allah has ordained a way for them."
The Prophet's explanation of the punishment for zina.
Sahih al-Bukhari 6824
Sahih... لعلك قبلت أو غمزت أو نظرت ...
"Perhaps you only kissed, or touched, or looked?"
The confessor was given every chance to withdraw, showing that the hadd is avoided where possible.
Where the ruling is recorded
- al-Hidaya, Kitab al-Hudud, Bab al-Zina. Proof by four witnesses or four confessions; exile is not part of the hadd but left to the ruler.
- Minhaj al-Talibin (Nawawi), Kitab al-Zina. The Shafi'i rules: exile for a year and one confession suffices.
- al-Mughni (Ibn Qudama), Kitab al-Hudud. The Hanbali view on exile and the fourfold confession.
Checked by our team. For a more accurate answer to your own situation, consult a scholar. Quran translation by Sahih International. Hadith Arabic from the standard editions of the six books and the Muwatta, with gradings as recorded there; the English is our own rendering. Spotted a mistake? Tell us.