Chapter on the Prescribed Amounts of Blood-Money for Life

The blood-money (diyah) for a free Muslim is one of five equivalent payments: 100 camels, 1,000 gold mithqals, 12,000 silver dirhams, 200 cows, or 1,000 sheep. These are the canonical forms of the diyah; whichever of them the liable party is able to present, the heir must accept.

In cases of deliberate or quasi-deliberate homicide the diyah is set at 25 bint makhāḍ (one-year-old she-camels), 25 bint labūn (two-year-old she-camels), 25 ḥiqqah (three-year-old she-camels), and 25 jadhʿah (four-year-old she-camels). For accidental killing it is paid in fifths: 80 head taken from the four categories just mentioned and 20 banū makhāḍ (one-year-old male camels). In all of this the monetary value is irrelevant; what matters is that the animals be sound.

The diyah of a Jew or Christian is half that of a Muslim. The diyah of a Magian or idol-worshipper is 800 dirhams; their women receive half the amount due for their men, just as Muslim women do.

The diyah for a slave¹ is his market value, and compensation for his wounds is the amount by which his value is diminished after recovery. For a fetus, whether male or female, a ghurra is due—one-tenth of the mother’s diyah; if the mother is a slave, one-tenth of her market price. For this purpose a free woman is assessed as though she were a bond-woman.

If a slave commits an offense by mistake, or intentionally in a case where retaliation (qiṣāṣ) is unavailable—or where retaliation is possible but monetary compensation is chosen instead—or if he destroys property without his master’s permission, the liability attaches to his person. The master may then choose one of three options: ransom him by paying the assessed compensation, surrender him to the injured party so that they become his owner, or sell him and hand over the proceeds.

¹ In classical jurisprudence the term covers both male and female slaves; the diyah is calculated according to the current market price.