Qiṣāṣ (lawful retribution) is the act carried out by the victim himself—or by his legal heir—against the offender, replicating the very act the latter committed or something comparable to it. Its wisdom lies in soothing the wounded heart and cooling the heat of anger. Allah prescribed qiṣāṣ as a deterrent to aggression, a remedy for what seethes within the soul, and a means of making the culprit taste what he made the victim taste; in it there is preservation and life for humankind.

In the Age of Ignorance people went to extremes in vengeance, sometimes punishing someone other than the actual perpetrator. Such injustice fails to achieve its aim; rather, it fuels discord and sheds more blood. Islam, with its perfect law, instituted qiṣāṣ and confined punishment to the offender alone. Thus justice and mercy were realized, and blood was spared.

The conditions that render qiṣāṣ obligatory have already been explained. Yet even when those conditions are met, retribution may not be carried out until additional requirements—identified by the jurists (may Allah have mercy on them) and called “the conditions for executing qiṣāṣ”—are also satisfied. They are three in number.

First condition: The person entitled to qiṣāṣ must be legally responsible; that is, an adult of sound mind. If the entitled party—or any one of them—is a minor or mentally incapable, the guardian may not carry out retribution on his behalf. Because qiṣāṣ involves personal vindication and relief of anger, its objective would not be achieved if someone else executed it. Consequently, the implementation must be postponed, and the offender kept in custody until the minor reaches majority and the insane person regains sanity. Muʿāwiyah once detained Hudbah ibn Khushram in a qiṣāṣ case until the slain man’s son came of age; this occurred during the era of the Companions, and no one objected, constituting a consensus among the Companions living at the time of Muʿāwiyah (may Allah be pleased with him).