Fath al-Rabbani

Narrated from Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Amr bin al-As (may Allah be pleased with them both) that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said: Whoever commits intentional murder, he shall be handed over to the heirs of the slain; if they wish, they may kill him, or if they wish, they may take blood money. The details are: thirty Hiqqah camels, thirty Jadh’ah camels, and forty pregnant she-camels; this is the blood money for intentional murder. Also, whatever they agree upon in reconciliation will be for them. This is the most severe blood money. The blood money for quasi-intentional murder is also aggravated like that of intentional murder, but the killer in quasi-intentional murder will not be killed in retaliation. This is because Satan causes discord among people, and then killings occur without malice or weapons. The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said: Whoever raises a weapon against us is not from among us. Nor is ambush set for such a killing. Any killing that occurs outside these cases is quasi-intentional, and its blood money is aggravated (severe). The killer in quasi-intentional murder will not be killed in retaliation; this ruling applies even if it is a sacred month, a sacred place, or a neighbor. Whoever is killed by mistake, his blood money is one hundred camels. The details are: thirty Bint Makhad camels, thirty Bint Labun camels, thirty Hiqqah camels, and ten male Ibn Labun camels. The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) used to fix four hundred dinars or its equivalent in silver for the people of the town in exchange for this blood money. He (peace and blessings be upon him) would determine the amount of gold and silver according to the price of camels; when the price of camels increased, the amount of gold and silver would also be increased, and when their price decreased, the amount of cash would also be decreased. In the time of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him), this price ranged from four hundred dinars to eight hundred dinars, or its equivalent in silver, eight thousand dirhams. Also, the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) decided that whoever had to pay blood money in cows should give two hundred cows, and the owners of goats should give two thousand goats. When someone completely cuts off another’s nose, the full blood money, i.e., one hundred camels, will be due; and when someone cuts off the edge of the nose, half the blood money, i.e., fifty camels, will be due. Half the blood money is due for one eye, which is fifty camels, or their equivalent in gold or silver, or one hundred cows, or one thousand goats. The blood money for a foot is half, for one hand is half. The blood money for a ma’mumah (a wound reaching the brain) is one third of the full blood money, i.e., thirty-three camels, or their value in gold or silver, or cows or goats. The blood money for a wound reaching the abdomen is one third of the full blood money. The blood money for a broken bone is fifteen camels. The blood money for a wound exposing the bone is five camels, and the blood money for one tooth is five camels.

It is narrated from Sayyiduna ‘Ubada bin Samit (may Allah be pleased with him) that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him and his family) gave the ruling regarding the greater and aggravated blood money (diyah) that it should consist of thirty bint labun, thirty hiqqah, and forty pregnant she-camels. Regarding the lesser diyah, his ruling was that it should consist of thirty bint labun, thirty hiqqah, twenty bint makhad, and twenty ibn makhad, meaning male camels. After the passing of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him and his family), camels became expensive and dirhams became cheaper. Sayyiduna ‘Umar bin Khattab (may Allah be pleased with him) fixed the price of the camels of Madinah at six thousand dirhams, with the price of each camel being one uqiyyah. Then camels became more expensive and the price of silver fell, so Sayyiduna ‘Umar bin Khattab (may Allah be pleased with him) increased the diyah by two thousand more and set the price of each camel at two uqiyyahs. Camels again became expensive and dirhams fell in value, so this time Sayyiduna ‘Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) made the total twelve thousand dirhams, setting the price of each camel at three uqiyyahs. In the sacred months, a third more was taken in the payment of diyah, and in the sacred city, another third was added. In this way, the diyah of the two sacred cities (Makkah and Madinah) became a full twenty thousand dirhams. From the villagers, diyah was taken from their livestock; they were not obliged to give gold or silver, and from every nation, diyah was taken from their wealth at a fair price.

Sayyiduna Urwah bin Zubair (may Allah have mercy on him) narrates that my father and my grandfather, who were present with the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) in the Battle of Hunayn, say: The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) led us in the Zuhr prayer and went to sit in the shade of a tree. Aqra’ bin Habis stood before him, and he and ‘Uyainah bin Hisn bin Badr, both chiefs of the Qais tribe, began to demand the blood of ‘Amir bin Azbat Ashja‘i. Aqra’ bin Habis was defending Muhallim bin Jathamah because of his relation to Khindaf. Both of them presented their case before the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him). We heard: The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said: Take fifty camels now during the journey and take fifty more when you return. ‘Uyainah said: O Messenger of Allah! By Allah, I will not leave him until I cause his women to suffer the grief that he caused our women. The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said: Take the blood money. But ‘Uyainah refused. A man named Makital from the tribe of Laith stood up; he was a short man and armed with various weapons. He said: O Messenger of Allah! At the beginning of Islam, you would not have found a slain person like this, except like goats that come to a watering place; if arrows are thrown at the goats ahead, even the last ones begin to flee (meaning, we will take retribution, we will not leave it). Establish the way today, and tomorrow you may change it, meaning today the law of retribution will be enforced. After that, the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) raised his hands in supplication and said: No, rather do this: accept the blood money, take fifty camels now and fifty upon return. He continued to soften them until they agreed to accept the blood money. When they accepted the blood money, they said: Where is your killer, so that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) may seek forgiveness for him? Then a tall, wheat-colored man stood up, wearing a garment, and it seemed as if he was preparing for execution. When he came and sat before the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him), he asked: What is your name? He said: I am Muhallim bin Jathamah. The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said: O my Allah! Do not forgive Muhallim. He supplicated this curse three times. He stood up and walked away from the presence of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him), wiping his tears with one edge of his cloak. We said to one another that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) had only sought forgiveness for him, and merely expressed these words so that people would leave one another alone.