Zād al-Mustaqniʿ - Al-Hajjawi - (207)

Book of Criminal Offences

[Introduction]

Book of Criminal Offences

Offences are of three types: intentional homicide—retaliatory execution (qiṣāṣ)¹ applies to it provided there was deliberate intent—quasi-intentional homicide, and accidental homicide.

Intentional homicide is to aim at a person known to be a protected human being and kill him by a means that is most likely to cause death—such as wounding him with a sharp instrument that penetrates the body; striking him with a large stone or the like; pulling a wall down upon him; throwing him from a height, or into fire or water in which he drowns and from which he cannot escape; strangling him; confining him and withholding food or drink² so that he dies within a period in which death is the usual outcome³; killing him by magic⁴ or poison⁵; or when witnesses testify against him with evidence that requires his execution and then recant, saying, “We deliberately sought his death,”⁶ and similar cases.

Quasi-intentional homicide is to aim at an assault that ordinarily does not kill—and without wounding him—such as striking him, in a non-fatal area, with a whip, a small stick, giving him a punch, and the like.

Accidental homicide is to perform an act that functions in its usual manner, for example: shooting at game⁷, or at a target, or

(1) In manuscript “B” the wording is: “ʿamd mahd yajibu …” (a purely deliberate act entails …). (2) Shaykh Ibn Maniʿ notes a copy that reads: “or he withholds food and drink from him.” (3) In manuscript “B” the phrase appears as: “ghaliban fiha bidhalik” (“that is usually the case with it”). (4) In manuscript “B” the reading is: “bi-mahram” (“with a mahram”). (5) In manuscript “M” and in the commentary the word is: “bism” (“in the name”). (6) Manuscript “A” omits the passage: “then they returned … killed him.” (7) Manuscript “B” contains the additional word: “mubahan” (“permissible”).

كتاب الجنايات مدخل ... كتاب الجنايات وهي عمد "يختص١ القود به بشرط القصد" وشبه عمد وخطأ. فالعمد: أن يقصد من يعلمه آدميا معصوما فيقتله بما يغلب على الظن موته به مثل أن يجرحه بما له مور في البدن أو يضربه بحجر كبير ونحوه أو يلقي عليه حائطا أو يلقيه من شاهق أو في نار أو ماء يغرقه ولا يمكنه التخلص منهما أو يخنقه أو يحبسه ويمنعه الطعام أو الشراب٢ فيموت من ذلك في مدة يموت فيها غالبا٣ أو يقتله بسحر٤ أو سم٥ أو شهدت عليه بينة بما يوجب قتله ثم رجعوا وقالوا: عمدنا قتله٦ ونحو ذلك. وشبه العمد: أن يقصد جناية لا تقتل غالبا "ولم يجرحه بها" كمن ضربه "في غير مقتل" بسوط أو عصا صغيرة أو لكزه ونحوه. والخطأ: أن يفعل ماله فعله مثل: أن يرمي صيدا٧ "أو غرضا أو

١في "ب": عمد محض يجب ... ٢أشار الشيخ ابن مانع إلى نسخة فيها: أو يمنع عنه الطعام والشراب. ٣في "ب": غالبا فيها بذلك. ٤في "ب": بمحرم. ٥في "م" والشرح: بسم. ٦سقط من "أ": ثم رجعوا ... قتله. ٧في "ب" زيادة: مباحا.