Chapter on the Diyah for Body Parts and Bodily Functions

First: The diyah for specific organs

Some scholars state that the human body contains forty-five organs. These organs are divided into two kinds: those of which there is only one in the body, and those of which there are two or more.

If an organ of which there is only one—such as the nose, the tongue, or the penis—is destroyed, the full diyah of the person from whom it was severed becomes due, according to the details mentioned earlier. This ruling applies whether the victim is male or female, free or enslaved, a protected non-Muslim or otherwise, because destroying a unique organ—one that Allah created only once in the body—eliminates the benefit of the entire class of that organ. It is therefore akin to taking the life itself, and so the diyah for a life is obligatory. On this point there is consensus. In the written directives sent by ʿAmr ibn Ḥazm it is recorded that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said: “For the penis, the diyah; for the nose, when completely severed, the diyah; and for the tongue, the diyah.” Reported by Ahmad and al-Nasaʾi—this is his wording—and judged sound by Ahmad, Ibn Ḥibbān, al-Ḥākim, and al-Bayhaqi.

As for organs found in pairs—such as the two eyes, the two ears, the two lips, the two jaws (the two bones that bear the teeth), a woman’s two breasts, a man’s two nipples, the two hands, the two feet, and the two testicles—destroying both of any of these likewise requires the full diyah