Thus, if they sever a limb or inflict a wound—whether through direct participation or through conspiring and agreeing to it—retaliation is due from them. If the injured party chooses the diyah instead, then they are liable for a single diyah for that limb or wound.

The author then mentioned two important principles concerning the spread of an injury and the spread resulting from retaliation. He said, may Allah have mercy on him:

“The spread of an injury is compensable, whether it results in death or in anything less than death; whereas the spread resulting from retaliation entails no liability. Retaliation may not be carried out for a limb or a wound before it has healed, just as no diyah may be claimed for it.”

His statement, “The spread of an injury is compensable, whether it results in death or in anything less than death”: “spread” is annexed to “injury.” This is an attribution of something to its cause; that is, the spread caused by the injury is compensable. Spread means that something extends from one place to another: a wound may spread from its initial location to another place and become more extensive. The same may occur with limbs; for example, a person’s finger may be severed and the entire hand subsequently deteriorates, or a fingertip may be severed and the entire finger subsequently deteriorates, or an injury exposing the bone may initially be the size of a fingernail and then expand until it is the size of the palm.

The author says: if the spread results from an injury, it is compensable, whether it leads to death or to anything less than death. An example involving death is where someone deliberately cuts off another person’s finger, and he bleeds until he dies. In that case, we execute the offender. If the offender says, “I only cut off his finger,” we say to him: “But this injury spread to his life, and you were its cause. You may not have intended to kill this person, but he died because of you, so you are liable.”

This principle is based on a well-known rule among the scholars: “Whatever results from an unauthorized act entails liability.” Thus, everything resulting from something that was not permitted, neither by the Sharia nor by customary practice, entails liability.