Musannaf Ibn Abi Shaybah

Hazrat Simak narrates that Hazrat Hansh bin Mu'tamir said: In Yemen, a pit was dug for a lion, and the lion fell into it. People were crowding and pushing each other at the edge of the well when suddenly a man was about to fall in, so he grabbed another, and the second grabbed a third, thus a total of four people fell into the pit and all of them died. People did not understand what to do about this matter. Meanwhile, Hazrat Ali (may Allah be pleased with him) arrived and said: If you wish, I will make a decision among you which will be permissible for you in the sense that you may go to the Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him). He said: Surely, I will place the burden of blood money on those who were present at the edge of the well. And he made one-fourth of the blood money obligatory for the first person who fell into the well, one-third for the second person, half for the third, and the full blood money for the fourth. So all the people agreed to this until they came to the Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him) and informed him about the decision of Hazrat Ali (may Allah be pleased with him), and the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) enforced that decision.

Hazrat Aamir narrates that Hazrat Masrooq said: Six children went to swim, and one of them drowned in the water. Then three children testified against two that those two had drowned him, and the two testified against the three that those three had drowned him. Upon this, Hazrat Ali (may Allah be pleased with him) decided that two-fifths of the blood money would be obligatory upon the three boys, and three-fifths of the blood money would be obligatory upon the two boys.

Hazrat Sha'bi narrates that Hazrat Masruq divided the blood money into seven parts: four parts over three, and three parts over four.

Hazrat Qatadah narrates that Hazrat Khallas said: A man hired four men to dig a well for him. They dug the well, but the men sank into the well and one of them died. This matter was presented before Hazrat Ali (may Allah be pleased with him), so he made the three of them responsible for three-fourths of the blood money and reduced one-fourth of the blood money from them.

Hazrat Abu Malik narrates that Hazrat Ali (may Allah be pleased with him) bin Aqmar said: A man hired three men to dig his wall. All of them struck the foundation, so the wall collapsed on them and one of them died. Those people brought this dispute to Hazrat Shurayh, so he ruled that the remaining two men were liable for two-thirds of the blood money.

Hazrat Muammar narrates that Imam Zuhri was asked about such laborers who were hired for wages to demolish a wall, but the wall collapsed upon them and some of them died. Hazrat Zuhri made some of them liable for others, stating that the blood money would be obligatory upon the survivors.

Hazrat Musa bin Ali (may Allah be pleased with him) narrates that his father, Hazrat Ali (may Allah be pleased with him), said: During the time of Hazrat Umar, a blind man was reciting this verse to the people: Translation: O people! I am faced with an unreasonable matter. Should a blind man also pay blood money to the one who can see? Even though both of them fell together and both of their bones were broken? Hazrat Waki’ says that people held the opinion that a sighted man was taking a blind man along, and both of them fell into a well, and the blind man fell upon him—either he killed him or injured him—so the blind man was held liable.