center of the Muhammadan
Revelation concerning the penalty of adultery committed between a married man and a married woman,
Muḥammad answered and said: “The law of God is death by stoning.” Whereupon they protested saying: “No such law hath been revealed in the
Pentateuch.” Muḥammad answered and said: “Whom do ye regard among your rabbis as being a recognized authority and having a sure knowledge of the truth?” They agreed upon
Ibn-i-Ṣúríyá. Thereupon Muḥammad summoned him and said: “I adjure thee by God Who clove the sea for you, caused manna to descend upon you, and the cloud to overshadow you, Who delivered you from
Pharaoh and his people, and exalted you above all human beings, to tell us what
Moses hath decreed concerning adultery between a married man and a married woman.” He made reply: “O Muḥammad! death by stoning is the law.” Muḥammad observed: “Why is it then that this law is annulled and hath ceased to operate among the Jews?” He answered and said: “When
Nebuchadnezzar delivered Jerusalem to the flames, and put the Jews to death, only a few survived. The
divines of that age, considering the extremely limited number of the Jews, and the multitude of the
Amalekites, took counsel together, and came to the conclusion that were they to enforce the law of the Pentateuch,