What is the punishment for the fornicator?

Adultery is forbidden and is among the greatest sins, after polytheism and murder. This is indicated by Quranic verses and prophetic hadiths. The sin of adultery varies and is magnified depending on the circumstances; thus, adultery with a Mahram (unmarriageable kin) or a married woman is graver than adultery with a foreign woman.

As for the punishment for an adulterer: if he is a free, married man, he is stoned to death. If he is unmarried, he is given one hundred lashes and exiled for one year if he is a free, virgin man. A male or female slave is given fifty lashes.