It is not permissible to replace stoning of an adulterer with killing by the sword or by shooting

Question

Praise be to Allah.

It is essential to stone the married adulterer until he dies,
following the Sunnah of the Messenger (peace and blessings of Allaah be
upon him), as it is proven that he said that, did it and enjoined it. The
Messenger of Allaah (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) stoned
Maa’iz, the Juhani woman, the Ghaamidi woman, and the two Jews. All of that
is proven in saheeh ahaadeeth narrated from the Prophet (peace and
blessings of Allaah be upon him). The scholars among the Sahaabah (may
Allaah be pleased with them), the Taabi’een and those who came after them
are also unanimously agreed on that. No one differed from them apart from
those to whose views no attention is to be paid. Al-Bukhaari and Muslim
narrated in their Saheehs from Ibn ‘Abbaas (may Allaah be pleased
with him) that ‘Umar (may Allaah be pleased with him) said: “Allaah sent
Muhammad (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) with the truth and
revealed to him the Book, and one of the things that Allaah revealed was the
verse of stoning. We have read it and understood it. The Messenger of Allaah
(peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) stoned (adulterers) and we
stoned (them) after him, but I fear that there may come a time when some
people say: ‘By Allaah, we do not find the verse of stoning in the Book of
Allaah.’ So they will go astray by forsaking an obligation that Allaah has
revealed. According to the Book of Allaah, stoning is deserved by the one
who commits zina, if he is married, men and women alike, if proof is
established or the woman becomes pregnant or they confess…”

Based on this, it is not
permissible to replace stoning with killing by the sword or shooting,
because stoning is a more severe punishment and a more effective deterrent
to the sin of zina, which is the most grave sin after shirk and killing a
soul whom Allaah has forbidden us to kill. The hadd punishment of stoning
for a married person who commits zina is one of the matters that is
determined by the Qur’aan and Sunnah and there is no room for ijtihaad or
personal opinion. If killing by the sword or shooting were permissible in
the case of the married adulterer then the Prophet (peace and blessings
of Allaah be upon him) would have done that and would have explained it to
his ummah, and his companions after him would have done that too.