Blood Money (Ad-Diyat)
كتاب الديات
Chapter 8: The relative of the killed person has the right to choose one of two compensations
In the year of the Conquest of Mecca, the tribe of Khuza`a killed a man from the tribe of Bam Laith in revenge for a killed person belonging to them in the Pre-lslamic Period of Ignorance. So Allah's Apostle got up saying, "Allah held back the (army having) elephants from Mecca, but He let His Apostle and the believers overpower the infidels (of Mecca). Beware! (Mecca is a sanctuary)! Verily! Fighting in Mecca was not permitted for anybody before me, nor will it be permitted for anybody after me; It was permitted for me only for a while (an hour or so) of that day. No doubt! It is at this moment a sanctuary; its thorny shrubs should not be uprooted; its trees should not be cut down; and its Luqata (fallen things) should not be picked up except by the one who would look for its owner. And if somebody is killed, his closest relative has the right to choose one of two things, i.e., either the Blood money or retaliation by having the killer killed." Then a man from Yemen, called Abu Shah, stood up and said, "Write that) for me, O Allah's Messenger (ﷺ)!" Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) said (to his companions), "Write that for Abu Shah." Then another man from Quraish got up, saying, "O Allah's Messenger (ﷺ)! Except Al- Idhkhir (a special kind of grass) as we use it in our houses and for graves." Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) said, "Except Al-idhkkir."
For the children of Israel the punishment for crime was Al-Qisas only (i.e., the law of equality in punishment) and the payment of Blood money was not permitted as an alternate. But Allah said to this nation (Muslims): 'O you who believe! Qisas is prescribed for you in case of murder, .....(up to) ...end of the Verse. (2.178) Ibn `Abbas added: Remission (forgiveness) in this Verse, means to accept the Blood-money in an intentional murder. Ibn `Abbas added: The Verse: 'Then the relatives should demand Blood-money in a reasonable manner.' (2.178) means that the demand should be reasonable and it is to be compensated with handsome gratitude.
Chapter 14: Al-Qisas in cases of injury
We poured medicine into the mouth of the Prophet (ﷺ) during his ailment. He said, "Don't pour medicine into my mouth." (We thought he said that) out of the aversion a patient usually has for medicines. When he improved and felt better he said, "There is none of you but will be forced to drink medicine, except Al-`Abbas, for he did not witness your deed."
Chapter 15: Whoever took his right or retaliation from somebody without submitting the case to the ruler
That he heard Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) saying, "We (Muslims) are the last (to come) but (will be) the foremost (on the Day of Resurrection)." And added, "If someone is peeping (looking secretly) into your house without your permission, and you throw a stone at him and destroy his eyes, there will be no blame on you."
Humaid said, "A man peeped into the house of the Prophet (ﷺ) and the Prophet (ﷺ) aimed an arrow head at him to hit him." I asked, "Who told you that?" He said, "Anas bin Malik" (See Hadith No. 258 and 259, Vol. 8)
Chapter 17: If someone kills himself by mistake, there is no Diya
We went out with the Prophet (ﷺ) to Khaibar. A man (from the companions) said, "O 'Amir! Let us hear some of your Huda (camel-driving songs.)" So he sang some of them (i.e. a lyric in harmony with the camels walk). The Prophet (ﷺ) said, "Who is the driver (of these camels)?" They said, "Amir." The Prophet said, "May Allah bestow His Mercy on him !" The people said, "O Allah's Messenger (ﷺ)! Would that you let us enjoy his company longer!" Then 'Amir was killed the following morning. The people said, "The good deeds of 'Amir are lost as he has killed himself." I returned at the time while they were talking about that. I went to the Prophet (ﷺ) and said, "O Allah's Prophet! Let my father be sacrificed for you! The people claim that 'Amir's good deeds are lost." The Prophet (ﷺ) said, "Whoever says so is a liar, for 'Amir will have a double reward as he exerted himself to obey Allah and fought in Allah's Cause. No other way of killing would have granted him greater reward."
Chapter 18: If somebody bites a man and has his tooth broken
I went out in one of the Ghazwa and a man bit another man and as a result, an incisor tooth of the former was pulled out. The Prophet (ﷺ) cancelled the case.
Chapter 22: Al-Qasama
(a man from the Ansar) that a number of people from his tribe went to Khaibar and dispersed, and then they found one of them murdered. They said to the people with whom the corpse had been found, "You have killed our companion!" Those people said, "Neither have we killed him, nor do we know his killer." The bereaved group went to the Prophet (ﷺ) and said, "O Allah's Messenger (ﷺ)! We went to Khaibar and found one of us murdered." The Prophet (ﷺ) said, "Let the older among you come forward and speak." Then the Prophet (ﷺ) said, to them, "Bring your proof against the killer." They said "We have no proof." The Prophet (ﷺ) said, "Then they (the defendants) will take an oath." They said, "We do not accept the oaths of the Jews." Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) did not like that the Blood-money of the killed one be lost without compensation, so he paid one-hundred camels out of the camels of Zakat (to the relatives of the deceased) as Diya (Blood-money).
Chapter 24: Al-‘Aqila who pay the Diya
I heard Abu Juhaifa saying, "I asked `Ali 'Have you got any Divine literature apart from the Qur'an?' (Once he said...apart from what the people have?) `Ali replied, 'By Him Who made the grain split (germinate) and created the soul, we have nothing except what is in the Qur'an and the ability (gift) of understanding Allah's Book which He may endow a man with and we have what is written in this paper.' I asked, 'What is written in this paper?' He replied, 'Al-`Aql (the regulation of Diya), about the ransom of captives, and the Judgment that a Muslim should not be killed in Qisas (equality in punishment) for killing a disbeliever." (See Hadith No. 283,Vol. 4)
Chapter 25: The foetus of a woman
'Umar consulted the companions about the case of a woman's abortion (caused by somebody else). Al-Mughira said: The Prophet (ﷺ) gave the verdict that a male or female slave should be given (as a Diya). Then Muhammad bin Maslama testified that he had witnessed the Prophet (ﷺ) giving such a verdict.
Chapter 28: No Diya in cases of mines and wells
Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) said, "There is no Diya for persons killed by animals or for the one who has been killed accidentally by falling into a well or for the one killed in a mine. And one-fifth of Rikaz (treasures buried before the Islamic era) is to be given to the state."
Chapter 10: Excusing somebody who killed by mistake.
The pagans were defeated on the day (of the battle) of Uhud. Satan shouted among the people on the day of Uhud, "O Allah's worshippers! Beware of what is behind you!" So the front file of the army attacked the back files (mistaking them for the enemy) till they killed Al-Yaman. Hudhaifa (bin Al- Yaman) shouted, "My father!" My father! But they killed him. Hudhaifa said, "May Allah forgive you." (The narrator added: Some of the defeated pagans fled till they reached Taif.)
Chapter 11: “It is not for a believer to kill a believer except by mistake….”
Chapter 12: If a killer confesses once, he sould be killed
A Jew crushed the head of a girl between two stones. It was said to her. "Who has done this to you, such-and-such person, such-and-such person?" When the name of the Jew was mentioned, she nodded with her head, agreeing. So the Jew was brought and he confessed. The Prophet (ﷺ) ordered that his head be crushed with the stones. (Hammam said, "with two stones.")
Chapter 13: Killing a man for having killed a woman
The Prophet (ﷺ) killed a Jew for killing a girl in order to take her ornaments.
Chapter 18: If somebody bites a man and has his tooth broken
A man bit another man's hand and the latter pulled his hand out of his mouth by force, causing two of his incisors (teeth) to fall out. They submitted their case to the Prophet, who said, "One of you bit his brother as a male camel bites. (Go away), there is no Diya (Blood-money) for you."
Chapter 20: The Diya for fingers
I heard the Prophet (saying the same as above Hadith 34).
Chapter 21: If a group killed or injured one man, will all have to give Diya or be punished with Al-Qisas?
Al-Mughira bin Hakim said that his father said, "Four persons killed a boy, and 'Umar said (as above)."
Abu Bakr, Ibn Az-Zubair, 'Ali and Suwaid bin Muqarrin gave the judgement of Al-Qisas (equality in punishment) in cases of slapping. And 'Umar carried out Al-Qisas for a strike with a stick. And 'Ali carried out Al-Qisas for three lashes with a whip. And Shuraih carried out for one last and for scratching.
Chapter 22: Al-Qasama
Once `Umar bin `Abdul `Aziz sat on his throne in the courtyard of his house so that the people might gather before him. Then he admitted them and (when they came in), he said, "What do you think of Al-Qasama?" They said, "We say that it is lawful to depend on Al-Qasama in Qisas, as the previous Muslim Caliphs carried out Qisas depending on it." Then he said to me, "O Abu Qilaba! What do you say about it?" He let me appear before the people and I said, "O Chief of the Believers! You have the chiefs of the army staff and the nobles of the Arabs. If fifty of them testified that a married man had committed illegal sexual intercourse in Damascus but they had not seen him (doing so), would you stone him?" He said, "No." I said, "If fifty of them testified that a man had committed theft in Hums, would you cut off his hand though they did not see him?" He replied, "No." I said, "By Allah, Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) never killed anyone except in one of the following three situations: (1) A person who killed somebody unjustly, was killed (in Qisas,) (2) a married person who committed illegal sexual intercourse and (3) a man who fought against Allah and His Apostle and deserted Islam and became an apostate." Then the people said, "Didn't Anas bin Malik narrate that Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) cut off the hands of the thieves, branded their eyes and then, threw them in the sun?" I said, "I shall tell you the narration of Anas. Anas said: "Eight persons from the tribe of `Ukl came to Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) and gave the Pledge of allegiance for Islam (became Muslim). The climate of the place (Medina) did not suit them, so they became sick and complained about that to Allah's Messenger (ﷺ). He said (to them ), "Won't you go out with the shepherd of our camels and drink of the camels' milk and urine (as medicine)?" They said, "Yes." So they went out and drank the camels' milk and urine, and after they became healthy, they killed the shepherd of Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) and took away all the camels. This news reached Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) , so he sent (men) to follow their traces and they were captured and brought (to the Prophet). He then ordered to cut their hands and feet, and their eyes were branded with heated pieces of iron, and then he threw them in the sun till they died." I said, "What can be worse than what those people did? They deserted Islam, committed murder and theft." Then 'Anbasa bin Sa`id said, "By Allah, I never heard a narration like this of today." I said, "O 'Anbasa! You deny my narration?" 'Anbasa said, "No, but you have related the narration in the way it should be related. By Allah, these people are in welfare as long as this Sheikh (Abu Qilaba) is among them." I added, "Indeed in this event there has been a tradition set by Allah's Messenger (ﷺ). The narrator added: Some Ansari people came to the Prophet (ﷺ) and discussed some matters with him, a man from amongst them went out and was murdered. Those people went out after him, and behold, their companion was swimming in blood. They returned to Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) and said to him, "O Allah's Apostle, we have found our companion who had talked with us and gone out before us, swimming in blood (killed)." Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) went out and asked them, "Whom do you suspect or whom do you think has killed him?" They said, "We think that the Jews have killed him." The Prophet (ﷺ) sent for the Jews and asked them, "Did you kill this (person)?" They replied, "No." He asked the Al-Ansars, "Do you agree that I let fifty Jews take an oath that they have not killed him?" They said, "It matters little for the Jews to kill us all and then take false oaths." He said, "Then would you like to receive the Diya after fifty of you have taken an oath (that the Jews have killed your man)?" They said, "We will not take the oath." Then the Prophet (ﷺ) himself paid them the Diya (Blood-money)." The narrator added, "The tribe of Hudhail repudiated one of their men (for his evil conduct) in the Pre-lslamic period of Ignorance. Then, at a place called Al-Batha' (near Mecca), the man attacked a Yemenite family at night to steal from them, but a. man from the family noticed him and struck him with his sword and killed him. The tribe of Hudhail came and captured the Yemenite and brought him to `Umar during the Hajj season and said, "He has killed our companion." The Yemenite said, "But these people had repudiated him (i.e., their companion)." `Umar said, "Let fifty persons of Hudhail swear that they had not repudiated him." So forty-nine of them took the oath and then a person belonging to them, came from Sham and they requested him to swear similarly, but he paid one-thousand Dirhams instead of taking the oath. They called another man instead of him and the new man shook hands with the brother of the deceased. Some people said, "We and those fifty men who had taken false oaths (Al-Qasama) set out, and when they reached a place called Nakhlah, it started raining so they entered a cave in the mountain, and the cave collapsed on those fifty men who took the false oath, and all of them died except the two persons who had shaken hands with each other. They escaped death but a stone fell on the leg of the brother of the deceased and broke it, whereupon he survived for one year and then died." I further said, "`Abdul Malik bin Marwan sentenced a man to death in Qisas (equality in punishment) for murder, basing his judgment on Al-Qasama, but later on he regretted that judgment and ordered that the names of the fifty persons who had taken the oath (Al-Qasama), be erased from the register, and he exiled them in Sham."
Chapter 23: If somebody peeps into the house of some people
Abul Qasim said, "If any person peeps at you without your permission and you poke him with a stick and injure his eye, you will not be blamed."