Book of Blood Money

When a free Muslim is killed, the full diyah (blood money) is one hundred camels.

• For ʿamd (wilful homicide) it is paid in three categories: thirty ḥiqqah camels, thirty jadhʿah camels, and forty khalfah—i.e., pregnant she-camels.

• For khaṭāʾ (manslaughter) it is divided into five categories: twenty bint makhāḍ, and likewise twenty each of banāt labūn, banū labūn, ḥiqqah, and jadhʿah.

If the accidental killing takes place inside the ḥaram of Mecca, during one of the four sacred months (Dhu al-Qaʿdah, Dhu al-Ḥijjah, Muḥarram, or Rajab), or while the killer is in a state of iḥrām and the victim is a close womb-relative, the diyah is aggravated and follows the three-category schedule.

Even when the diyah for manslaughter is aggravated, it remains a deferred liability upon the ʿāqilah (the male agnates). The diyah for wilful homicide is payable immediately by the offender himself, while that for shibh ʿamd (quasi-intentional homicide) is three-category, charged to the ʿāqilah, and deferred.

No defective or sick animal is accepted unless the heirs consent. The pregnancy of a khalfah is verified by qualified experts; the sounder opinion is that she suffices even if not yet five years old.

Whoever is liable and owns camels must pay from his own herd. Another view requires payment from the camels most common in his town; failing that, from those predominant in the wider district or his Bedouin tribe, and, if none are available, from the nearest region.

Payment may not be converted to another species or to cash except by mutual agreement. If camels are altogether unobtainable, the classical substitute is one thousand dinars or twelve thousand dirhams; the modern substitute is their market value in the local currency. When only some of the required camels can be procured, they are taken and the value of the remainder is paid.

The diyah of a woman or a khunthā (intersex person) is half that of a man, both for death and for injuries. A Jew or a Christian is entitled to one-third of a Muslim’s diyah, while a Magian receives two-thirds of one-tenth—that is, one-fifteenth—of it; the same ruling applies to an idolater who has been granted safe-conduct.

According to the preferred view, a person to whom the call of Islam has not reached: if he adheres to an unaltered religion, receives the diyah prescribed for that faith; otherwise, he is treated like a Magian.