swear on that basis, and the judge is permitted—indeed required—to establish for him the right to qiṣāṣ (retaliatory execution) or blood money, even though the judge knows that the claimant did not see the crime and was not an eyewitness.” End quote.

Nevertheless, the heirs should not take the oaths until they have verified that the preponderance of probability is on their side, and the judge must impress upon them the gravity of a false oath and the punishment it entails.

Among the conditions for invoking qasāma is that the person accused of the killing be legally accountable; therefore, no claim may be brought against a minor or an insane person. Another condition is the physical possibility that the accused could have carried out the killing: if it was impossible—for example, because he was far from the scene at the time—the claim is not admitted.

The procedure is as follows: once all its prerequisites are fulfilled, the claimants begin by swearing fifty oaths, apportioned among them according to their shares of the victim’s estate, declaring that “So-and-so is the one who killed him.” This is done in the presence of the defendant. If the heirs refuse to swear, or do not complete the full fifty oaths, the defendant is then invited to swear fifty oaths—provided the claimants agree to accept his oaths. If he swears, he is acquitted. Should the claimants refuse to allow the defendant to swear, the imam pays the blood money from the public treasury, for when the Anṣār would not accept the oaths of the Jews, the Prophet ﷺ paid the blood money from Bayt al-Māl. Since no other avenue remains to establish the homicide against the defendant, the liability shifts to the public treasury so that the victim’s blood is not lost in vain.

The jurists have differed over what exactly is established through qasāma when its conditions are met and the victim’s heirs have sworn the fifty oaths. The sound view is that, once the additional conditions specific to qiṣāṣ are satisfied, qasāma confirms the right of retaliation against the defendant, in accordance with the Prophet’s words: “Fifty of you shall swear concerning one man…”