so that if the party liable for payment tenders any one of these items, the guardian of the victim must accept it, whether or not he himself possesses livestock of that kind, for the offender has fulfilled the principal form of the obligation. This is the position of a group of scholars.

A second view holds that camels alone constitute the original basis, and this is the opinion of the majority of jurists, relying on the Prophet’s words: “For the life of a believer there are one hundred camels,” and his statement: “Indeed, for a person killed in quasi-intentional homicide there are one hundred camels.”

Abu Dawud also reports that ʿUmar rose to address the people, saying: “Behold, the price of camels has soared; therefore, assess for those who deal in gold one thousand dinars, for those who deal in silver twelve thousand dirhams, for cattle-owners two hundred head of cattle, for sheep-owners two thousand sheep, and for those who trade in garments two hundred sets of garments.”

Furthermore, the Prophet—peace and blessings be upon him—made the diyah for intentional murder more severe when paid in camels and lightened the diyah for accidental killing on the same scale, and the scholars are unanimously agreed on this; hence camels are the primary standard.

This view is the preponderant one. Consequently, every other category mentioned is merely a monetary appraisal pegged to the value of camels.

In cases of deliberate homicide and its quasi-intentional counterpart, the diyah is aggravated: the one hundred camels are divided into four equal portions—twenty-five bint makhāḍ, twenty-five bint labūn, twenty-five ḥiqqah, and twenty-five jadhʿah—because al-Zuhri related from al-Saʾib ibn Yazid, who said: “During the lifetime of the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, the diyah was apportioned into quarters: twenty-five jadhʿah, twenty-five ḥiqqah, and twenty-five labūn,”}