Al-Sharḥ al-Mumtiʿ - Ibn al-'Uthaymin - (14/16)

and if they say, “We want to kill him and thereby satisfy our desire for retribution against him,” they are entitled to do so.

Accordingly, we say to the heirs of one killed by sorcery: “If you wish, we will hand this sorcerer over to you, and you may execute him yourselves in retaliation; or, if you wish, the ruler may execute him as a prescribed punishment, while you receive the blood money.”

But if he bewitched him until he lost his mind, then blood money is due from him, as will come, Allah willing, in the discussion of compensation for the loss of faculties.

The eighth case is his statement: “Or by poison”—that is, he kills him by poison, such as by putting poison into his water or food and giving it to him to drink or eat without his knowing. If he knows that it contains poison and eats or drinks it, his death carries no liability. But if he does not know, then the one who put the poison before him is a deliberate killer.

If he kills him by putting glass into his food, this is deliberate killing, because it generally kills. Indeed, some people, when unable to kill a cat with poison, kill it with glass. For sometimes, when poison is put before it and it eats it, it vomits it up and survives; but if glass is put before it, then even if it vomits it up, it will not survive, and if it swallows it, it will not survive.

The ninth case is his statement: “Or reliable witnesses testify against him to that which entails his execution.” He did not say, “that which permits his execution,” for there is a difference between the two.

His statement: “Then they retract and say, ‘We intentionally sought his death.’” Thus, if they testify to that which entails his execution—for example, they testify that he committed adultery while being previously married, for the adultery of one who has been previously married entails stoning—and the judge rules on the basis of their testimony, and the person testified against is stoned, then they retract and say, “We retract our testimony, and we deliberately intended his death,” then his killing is deemed deliberate.

وإن قالوا: نريد أن نقتله ونشفي صدورنا منه فلهم ذلك. وعلى هذا فنقول لأولياء المقتول بالسحر: إن شئتم أعطيناكم هذا الساحر فاقتلوه أنتم قصاصاً، وإن شئتم قَتَلَه وليُّ الأمر حداً، ولكم الدية. فإن سحره حتى ذهب بعقله فهنا عليه الدية، كما سيأتي ـ إن شاء الله ـ في دية المنافع. الثامنة: قوله: «أو بِسُمٍّ» أي: أو يقتله بسُمٍّ، وذلك بأن يضع له السُّم في ماء، أو في طعام ويسقيه إياه وهو لا يعلم، فإن علم أن فيه سُمّاً وأكله، أو شربه، فهو هدر، لكن إن كان لا يعلم فيكون الذي وضع له السم قاتلاً عمداً. فإن قتله بزجاج وضعه داخل الطعام فإنه عمد؛ لأنه يقتل غالباً، حتى أن بعض الناس إذا لم يقتل الهرة بالسم قتلها بالزجاج؛ لأنه أحياناً إذا وُضع له السم وأكله تقيأه وسلم منه، لكن إن وضع له الزجاج، فإن تقيأه لم يسلم، وإن ابتلعه لم يَسْلم. التاسعة: قوله: «أو شهدت عليه بينة بما يوجب قتله» لم يقل: بما يبيح قتله، وبينهما فرق. قوله: «ثم رجعوا وقالوا: عمدنا قتله» فإذا شهدوا بما يوجب قتله، كأن شهدوا بأنه زنا وهو محصن ـ وزِنا المحصن يوجب الرجم ـ فحَكَم القاضي بشهادتهم، ورُجم هذا المشهود عليه، ثم رجعوا وقالوا: نحن راجعون عن شهادتنا، ومتعمدون لقتله، فهنا يكون قتله عمداً.