Sunan at-Tirmithiy كتاب الحدود باب ما جاء فى درء الحدود

حَدَّثَنَا عَبْدُ الرَّحْمَنِ بْنُ الأَسْوَدِ أَبُو عَمْرٍو الْبَصْرِىُّ حَدَّثَنَا مُحَمَّدُ بْنُ رَبِيعَةَ حَدَّثَنَا يَزِيدُ بْنُ زِيَادٍ الدِّمَشْقِىُّ عَنِ الزُّهْرِىِّ عَنْ عُرْوَةَ عَنْ عَائِشَةَ قَالَتْ قَالَ رَسُولُ اللَّهِ صلى الله عليه وسلم ادْرَءُوا الْحُدُودَ عَنِ الْمُسْلِمِينَ مَا اسْتَطَعْتُمْ فَإِنْ كَانَ لَهُ مَخْرَجٌ فَخَلُّوا سَبِيلَهُ فَإِنَّ الإِمَامَ أَنْ يُخْطِئَ فِى الْعَفْوِ خَيْرٌ مِنْ أَنْ يُخْطِئَ فِى الْعُقُوبَةِ.
The Messenger of God, peace and blessings of God be upon him, said, "Avert the implementation of the limits set by God (1) as much as possible. If there is a way to spare him (2), release him; for it is better for an Imām to err in granting pardon than to err in inflicting a penalty." Footnotes: (1) (Ḥudūd) The boundaries of acceptable behavior and the penal code for breaching these bounaries by committing major sins (such as theft and fornication). These boundaries have been set by God in the Islamic law (Sharī’ah) that governs all aspects of life. (2) Masculine pronouns are generally used in Arabic as a means for referring to both men and women when the meaning is left general and is not otherwise specified. A ḥadīth reported by at-Tirmithī, "The Book of Limits Set by God", in Sunan at-Tirmithī: ḥadīth number 1489, narrated by ʻĀʼishah Bint-Abī-Bakr aṣ-Ṣiddīq, Mother of the Believers. Click on ḥadīth to read more