So, he (‘Umar) freed her, saying Allahu Akbar !

So, he (‘Umar) freed her, saying Allahu Akbar ![^12] ‘Allamah al-Albani says: صحيح Sahih ^13 Reading all the narrations together, one gets the full picture of what happened: A lunatic woman was charged with adultery, which she apparently committed in her still extant state of insanity. The Shari’ah provides that crimes committed in a state of insanity are not justiciable.

‘Umar was well aware of this rule, and was fully convinced that the lunatic woman truly committed the adultery in a state of insanity. He nonetheless consulted with his team of judicial advisers (which excluded ‘Ali) on the matter, and eventually made up his mind to execute her. While convicting the lunatic woman and passing the death sentence against her, ‘Umar fully remembered the above-mentioned rule of the Shari’ah .

Nonetheless, ‘Umar ordered the execution of the lunatic woman for “nothing”, in his own words. Amir al-Muminin ‘Ali saw a clear miscarriage of justice in the judgment of ‘Umar, and stood against the order of the commander-in-chief, at great personal risks. He prevented ‘Umar’s executioners from carrying out their illegal orders. ‘Ali asked ‘Umar if the latter knew the Shari’ah ruling concerning lunatic people. ‘Umar replied: “Yes, I do”.