Chapter: Executing Retaliation (qiṣāṣ)
Three conditions must be fulfilled before qiṣāṣ may be carried out:
-
The person entitled to demand it must be legally competent. If he is a minor or mentally incapacitated, retaliation is not executed at his request; instead, the offender is kept in custody until the heir reaches puberty and full sanity.
-
All the heirs who share the right to qiṣāṣ must unanimously agree to enforce it, and none of them may act independently. If any of the heirs is absent, a minor, or insane, the others must wait until he arrives, reaches maturity, and is of sound mind.
-
It must be reasonably safe¹ to enforce the retaliation, such that the execution will not exceed its proper bounds. Thus, if qiṣāṣ becomes due against a woman who is not pregnant and she later conceives, she is not killed until she has delivered the child and nursed it with the first milk (colostrum). After that, if a wet nurse is available the sentence proceeds; otherwise, she is left until the child is weaned. No retaliation for the loss of a limb is taken from her until she has given birth, and the rule for a ḥadd (prescribed penalty) in this regard is the same as for qiṣāṣ.
Section
Retaliation may only be executed in the presence of the ruler—or his delegate—and with a sharp instrument.
As for capital retaliation, it must be carried out by decapitation with a sword, even if the offender killed by some other means.