except by the sword.
If a mukātab is killed intentionally and has no heir other than his master, and he has left no funds sufficient to complete his contract, the master may demand retaliation. If, however, he has left enough to cover the contract price and his heirs are people other than the master, they have no right to retaliation, even if they join with the master.
When a pledged slave is killed, retaliation is not carried out unless both the pledger and the pledgee unite in demanding it.
Whoever intentionally wounds a person and the victim remains bedridden until he dies is subject to retaliation.
Whoever deliberately severs another’s hand completely at the joint, his own hand is severed; the same rule applies to the foot, the soft cartilage of the nose, and the ear.
If someone strikes another’s eye and puts it out, no retaliation is taken. But if the eye remains in place and its sight is lost, retaliation is due: a mirror is heated, a piece of moist cotton is placed on the face, and the assailant’s eye is held before the mirror until its sight is destroyed.
There is retaliation for a tooth and for every head-wound in which precise equivalence can be achieved. No retaliation is taken for any bone other than a tooth. For injuries short of homicide there is no category of quasi-intentional; they are either intentional or accidental.
No retaliation is taken between a man and a woman, a free person and a slave, or between two slaves for injuries short of homicide.
Retaliation for limbs is enforceable between a Muslim and a non-Muslim. If someone cuts off another’s hand at mid-forearm, or inflicts a penetrating wound from which the victim recovers, no retaliation is taken.
When both the victim’s severed hand and the perpetrator’s hand are paralysed or missing fingers, the injured party may choose: he may have the defective hand cut off and take nothing else, or he may accept full financial compensation (arsh).
If a person inflicts a head-wound that spans the entire space between the two crowns of the victim’s head, while not spanning the same space on the attacker’s head, the injured party may choose: he may exact retaliation equal to the width of his own wound, beginning from whichever side he wishes, or he may take compensation.
There is no retaliation for injury to the tongue or to the penis—unless the glans is severed.
When the killer and the heirs of the slain agree on a monetary settlement, retaliation is waived and the agreed sum becomes payable, whether large or small. If one of several heirs pardons or settles his share for compensation, the others’ right to retaliation is extinguished, but they retain their shares of the blood-money.
If several people jointly kill one person intentionally, retaliation is taken from all of them.
If one person intentionally kills several people and all the heirs of the slain attend, he is executed once on behalf of them all and they have no further claim. If only one heir is present, the killer is executed for that person and the remaining heirs’ right lapses. Whoever becomes liable to retaliation and then dies