Did the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, order Ali to kill a man accused of having sexual intercourse with his concubine without proof, and was that a threat or a real command to kill?

The Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, ordered the killing of a man accused concerning his concubine Mariya, but Ali did not kill him when he found him castrated. Scholars have differed in interpreting the Prophet’s command to kill:

1. That he only intended to frighten him, just as Solomon, peace be upon him, did in the story of the two women disputing over the child. 2. That he was commanded to be killed as a discretionary punishment (ta'zir), not a prescribed punishment (hadd), for his audacious act of being alone with Mariya. 3. That he was deserving of death through another means, such as hypocrisy or breach of covenant. 4. That he intended to show the man’s and Mariya’s innocence to the people, and that the command to kill was to reveal the truth to the people, not that the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, was ignorant of his condition. Ibn Hazm supported this opinion.