Answering Atheist Objections to the Narration of the Stoning Monkey
عَنْ عَمْرِو بْنِ مَيْمُونٍ، قَالَ: ’’رَأَيْتُ فِي الجَاهِلِيَّةِ قِرْدَةً اجْتَمَعَ عَلَيْهَا قِرَدَةٌ، قَدْ زَنَتْ، فَرَجَمُوهَا، فَرَجَمْتُهَا مَعَهُمْ‘‘.
Amr ibn Maymun says: “In the pre-Islamic era (Jahiliyyah), I saw that a female monkey who had committed adultery was stoned by a group of other monkeys, and I stoned her along with them.”
This narration (athar) is present with an authentic chain of transmission in Sahih al-Bukhari, Hadith number 3849. It mentions that a female monkey committed adultery with a monkey other than her partner, for which the monkeys stoned her.
Regarding the aforementioned narration, certain objections are raised by atheists. Before addressing these objections, please read the following introductory points carefully:
“It should be remembered that this narration from a Tabi’i is neither a saying of the Prophet nor a saying of a Companion, but merely the statement of a Mukhadram Tabi’i (one who lived during the pre-Islamic era and embraced Islam but did not meet the Prophet). Fundamentally, it should be known that Imam al-Bukhari (may Allah have mercy on him) did not mention this incident to establish that animals are morally accountable (mukallaf). Rather, he did so to prove that Amr ibn Maymun was a Mukhadram Tabi’i. This is supported by the fact that Imam al-Bukhari mentioned the narration in question in ‘Al-Tarikh al-Kabir’ under the biography of Amr ibn Maymun, and experts are well aware that the purpose of mentioning hadiths and narrations in biographical books is to provide information related to the biography itself.”
Now, let us look at the objections of the atheists regarding the narration and their answers:
Objection (1): Based on this narration, the objection from atheists is: what kind of religion is Islam that it issues a ruling of stoning for adultery even among animals? Or, has Islam commanded the stoning of an adulterous monkey?
Answer: The answer to this is that nowhere in the aforementioned narration is it mentioned that, God forbid, Islam has passed a command or order for the stoning of animals or monkeys due to adultery. Instead, if you read the narration carefully, you will find that it is only describing an incident from Amr ibn Maymun’s time of ignorance (Jahiliyyah), showing that they were so steeped in ignorance that if they saw even a monkey committing adultery, they would start to strike it. For this reason, Imam al-Bukhari (may Allah have mercy on him) placed this incident in the chapter “Bab al-Qasamah fi al-Jahiliyyah” (Chapter on Oaths and Retribution in the Pre-Islamic Era) in Sahih al-Bukhari.
Objection (2): The objection is, how did Amr ibn Maymun know that the monkey was being stoned specifically for the reason of adultery?
Answer: To know how Amr ibn Maymun knew, if you read the explanation of this narration from Fath al-Bari (7/160), the matter will become perfectly clear. The explanation is as follows: Amr ibn Maymun says that a female monkey was with a male monkey. Suddenly, a smaller monkey came and signaled to the female monkey. She gently pulled her hand from under the head of the first monkey and went with the second monkey. After she left, she committed indecency and then returned, gently placing her hand under the cheek of the first monkey, which caused him to wake up. He then shrieked and gathered other monkeys and pointed towards the female monkey. Consequently, all the monkeys dug a pit and stoned her. The narrator says that he saw stoning in a creature other than the children of Adam.
عن عمرو بن ميمون قال كنت فى اليمن فى غنم لأهلي وانا على شرف فجاء قرد مع قردة فتوسد يدها فجاء قرد أصغر منه فغمزها فسلت يدها من تحت رأس القرد الأول سلا رقيقا وتبعته فوقع عليها وأنا أنظر ثم رجعت فجعلت تدخل يدها تحت خد الأول برفق فاستيقظ فزعا فشمها فصاح فاجتمعت القرود فجعل يصيح ويومء إليها بيده فذهب القرود يمنة ويسرة فجاؤوا بذلك القرد أعرفه فحفروا لهما حفرة فرجموهما فلقد رأيت الرجم فى غير بني آدم۔
Objection (3): It is objected that how can animals like monkeys perform stoning for adultery? This is a matter beyond comprehension.
Answer: The answer to this is that it is not necessary for everything to fit into our understanding and intellect. Sometimes, certain rare things are committed by a few among non-human creatures that are beyond our comprehension. This is attested to in today’s era of social media by various recorded videos of different animals. Many videos of animals are seen today that are beyond our understanding, but the reality is that those actions were indeed committed by those animals. For example, a cat opens a door latch. Should this be denied just because other cats don’t do it, so this one can’t either? No. This cannot be denied because it is possible for some cats to do so.
Similarly, although it is generally observed that monkeys or other animals do not perform stoning for indecency, it cannot be said that it could never happen with any animal. Sometimes, a supernatural event occurs, as is understood from the aforementioned narration that monkeys stoned a female monkey for adultery.
And it should be known that this act of stoning was carried out by animals like monkeys, about whom we all know that, compared to other animals, they are very sensitive, cunning, intelligent, and possess a sense of honor (ghairat), and their thinking is also similar to that of humans. Therefore, the presence of a sense of honor in them and the occurrence of an act like stoning for a crime like adultery is not something far-fetched.
Objection (4): The objection is raised: are marriage (nikah), divorce (talaq), and legal punishments (hudud and ta’zir) also applicable to monkeys? If there is no marriage, then there is no adultery. If there is no adultery, then why the stoning?
Answer: No, Islam does not speak of marriage, divorce, and legal punishments for monkeys because they are animals, not humans or jinn.
However, it is understood from the aforementioned narration that the monkeys stoned the adulterous male and female monkey. One of the many reasons for this is that they were jinn in the form of monkeys, and jinn are also accountable under Sharia law. This is understood from the statement of Hafiz Ibn ‘Abd al-Barr that these monkeys were jinn. (See: Fath al-Bari: 7/160).
The existence of jinn is proven from the Holy Quran. (See: Surah Al-Ahqaf: Verse: 29) etc.
Do those who deny the punishment of stoning have an objection that the jinn stoned a female jinn who committed adultery? Are the jinn not an accountable creation?
Regarding the topic, please note the following points of clarification (Tanbihat) with reference to “An Academic Review of Objections to Sahih al-Bukhari: pp. 39-41”:
Clarification 1: Stoning a married adulterer is established by authentic and mutawatir (mass-transmitted) hadiths. (See: Sahih al-Bukhari: 6814, Sahih Muslim: 1702).
Clarification 2: Jinn taking the form of animals is established by authentic hadiths. For example: (See: Sahih Muslim: H: 2236 and Darussalam numbering: 5839).
Clarification 3: To say in support of an adulterous jinn who has taken the form of a monkey that ‘an injustice was done to the poor monkey’—what else can such a person be called but a supporter of adulterous jinn (and adulterous humans)? The rejecters of hadith must prove that, in their view, committing adultery is permissible for jinn!
By Shafiq Ahmad Muhammad Adeel Muhammadi
Reference: https://ahlussunnah.net/?p=1894
