Qiṣāṣ: Ruling on Retaliatory Killing Between Men, Women, Slaves, and Non-Muslims
Author: Imran Ayub Lahori
❖ General Principle
- A woman is killed in retaliation for a man, and a man is killed in retaliation for a woman.
- A slave is killed for a free person, and a non-Muslim (dhimmī/kāfir) is killed for a Muslim.
- Retaliation of children against parents or slaves against their masters is excluded by consensus.
❖ Evidence from the Sunnah
① The Jewish Man Punished for Murder
Anas ibn Mālik رضي الله عنه narrates:
A slave girl was found with her head crushed between two stones. When asked who did it, she gestured towards a Jew. He confessed, and the Prophet ﷺ commanded:
«أن يرض رأسه بين حجرين»
“That his head be crushed between two stones (in retaliation).”
[Bukhārī 2413; Muslim 1672; Abū Dāwūd 4527; Nasāʾī 8/22; Tirmidhī 1394; Ibn Mājah 2665; Aḥmad 3/183]
② Letter of ʿAmr ibn Ḥazm
The Prophet ﷺ wrote to the people of Yemen:
«أن الذكر يقتل بالأنثى»
“A man is killed for a woman.”
[Muwaṭṭaʾ 2/849; Musnad al-Shāfiʿī 2/108, 363]
Yaqūb ibn Abī Sufyān said: “I consider this letter the most authentic of all transmitted letters, since the Companions and Tābiʿīn abandoned their own opinions for it.”
[Nayl al-Awṭār 4/456]
al-Ḥākim reported that ʿUmar ibn ʿAbd al-ʿAzīz and al-Zuhrī affirmed its authenticity.
[al-Mustadrak 1/397]
③ Consensus Mentioned
- al-Bukhārī رحمه الله: Scholars said men and women are equal in retaliation.
- Ibn al-Mundhir رحمه الله: Consensus exists that a man is killed for a woman, except for reports from ʿAlī, al-Ḥasan, and ʿAṭāʾ.
[al-Ijmāʿ p.144, no.653]
Majority View: A man is executed for killing a woman.
Minority (Mālik, al-Ḥasan al-Baṣrī): Only diyah applies, but this view is weak.
al-Shawkānī رحمه الله affirms the majority: man is killed for woman.
[Nayl al-Awṭār 4/453; al-Sayl al-Jarrār 4/397]
❖ Free Person for a Slave
Evidence Cited for Allowing Retaliation
- Hadith of Samurah رضي الله عنه:
“Whoever kills his slave, we will kill him; and whoever mutilates him, we will mutilate him.”
[Abū Dāwūd 4515; Tirmidhī 1414; Nasāʾī 8/20; Ibn Mājah 2663]
But this narration is weak, as authenticated scholars (including al-Albānī) graded it ḍaʿīf.
- Another narration: A man killed his slave intentionally. The Prophet ﷺ punished him with lashes, exile for a year, cancelled his share among the Muslims, ordered him to free a slave, but did not apply retaliation.
[al-Dāraquṭnī 3/143, no.187 — weak due to Ismāʿīl ibn ʿAyyāsh] - Qur’an:
﴿الْحُرُّ بِالْحُرِّ وَالْعَبْدُ بِالْعَبْدِ﴾
“Free for free, and slave for slave.”
[al-Baqarah: 178]
Cited as proof by those denying retaliation of a free man for a slave.
- ʿAlī رضي الله عنه:
“From the Sunnah: a free man is not killed for a slave.”
[al-Bayhaqī 8/34 — weak chain due to Jābir al-Juʿfī] - ʿUmar ibn al-Khaṭṭāb رضي الله عنه:
“There is no retaliation of a slave against his master, nor of a child against his parent.”
[al-Bayhaqī 8/36; Ibn ʿAdī, al-Kāmil 5/1713 — weak due to ʿUmar ibn ʿĪsā al-Aslamī]
❖ Juristic Opinions
- Ḥanafīs, Saʿīd ibn al-Musayyib, al-Shaʿbī, Qatādah, al-Thawrī:
A free person can be executed for a slave, provided the slave is not his own property. If it is his own slave, no retaliation applies by consensus. - Aḥmad, Isḥāq, Mālik, al-Shāfiʿī:
A free person is never executed for a slave, whether his own or someone else’s.
[Nayl al-Awṭār 4/451; al-Umm 6/26; al-Mabsūṭ 26/129; al-Mughnī 11/473; Bidāyat al-Mujtahid 2/398]
Preferred Opinion (Rājiḥ):
There is no valid proof establishing execution of a free man for a slave.
[al-Sayl al-Jarrār 4/393; Subul al-Salām 4/1576]
❖ Conclusion
- Man ↔ Woman: Retaliation applies both ways (majority opinion).
- Muslim ↔ Kāfir: A kāfir can be killed for a Muslim (clear evidence).
- Slave ↔ Free:
- Free for slave = disputed.
- Stronger opinion: no retaliation, only diyah or punishment.
- Child for Parent / Slave for Master: No retaliation, by consensus.
