Is the story true that Umar ibn al-Khattab, may Allah be pleased with him, exiled a man who joined the Romans, and then said, "I will never exile anyone after this," and is it understood from his statement that the punishment of exiling fornicators (taghreeb) was suspended, and is it permissible to suspend hudud punishments for the public good?

First: This report was narrated by Abd al-Razzaq al-San'ani in "Al-Musannaf" and by Al-Nasa'i in "Al-Sunan". Sa'id ibn al-Musayyab's narration from Umar is considered munqati' (broken chain) by many scholars. The narration was deemed weak by Shaykh al-Albani. However, a group of scholars strengthens Sa'id ibn al-Musayyab's narration from Umar, and according to this view, the least that can be said about this report is that its sanad (chain of narration) is hasan (definition) (good).

Second: This incident concerned the drinking of wine, and there is no mention in the sacred texts of ordering the banishment of a wine-drinker. Rather, this was mentioned in connection with the hadd (prescribed punishment) for the unmarried fornicator.

Third: Umar's banishment of the wine-drinker was a discretionary punishment (ta'zir) that he implemented based on a perceived benefit. Discretionary punishments are based on the ruler's ijtihad (definition) (independent reasoning) concerning what he sees as a legal benefit. So, Umar's statement, may Allah be pleased with him, "I will never banish a Muslim after this," pertains to the discretionary punishment for wine. He abandoned an ijtihad he had made, and he decided against expanding the punishment of banishment. It is not related to the hadd for zina (fornication/adultery) which is established by text.

Fourth: The prescribed punishments (hudud al-shar'iyyah) may not be suspended if the conditions for their application are met and there are no impediments, because suspending them constitutes abandoning and turning away from a ruling of the Sacred Law.

Fifth: If the fear of apostasy due to the application of hudud refers to some individuals, then this is a harm limited to those individuals. However, suspending hudud harms the entire Ummah in its religion and its worldly affairs. It is certain that averting this general harm takes precedence.