1022 – Abu Shurayh al-Khuzaʿi (may Allah be pleased with him) narrated that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said, “Whoever has one of his relatives slain after this statement of mine, his family is given two choices: either they accept the blood money, or they carry out the execution.” Reported by Abu Dawud and al-Nasa’i (1). Its principal version appears in the two Ṣaḥīḥs through a report of Abu Hurayrah with the same meaning (2).
Hadith grading
The hadith is authentic. It was recorded by Ahmad, al-Tirmidhi, and al-Daraqutni through the chain: Yaḥyā ibn Saʿīd → Ibn Abī Dhiʾb → Saʿīd ibn Abī Saʿīd al-Maqburi → Abu Shurayh. Al-Tirmidhi said, “A ḥasan ṣaḥīḥ hadith; it meets the criteria of the two Shaykhs, and they both transmitted it through the route of al-Layth ibn Saʿd from Saʿīd ibn Abī Saʿīd.” Ibn Ḥajar said in Bulūgh al-Marām: “Its original wording is in the two Ṣaḥīḥs on the authority of Abu Hurayrah.” It was also declared authentic by al-Tirmidhi, al-Suhayli in al-Rawḍ al-Anif, and Ibn Ḥazm in al-Muḥallā.
Vocabulary
between two choices: with a kasrah on the khāʾ and a fatḥah on the tāʾ; that is, the heir may choose between accepting the blood money and exacting retaliation.
Points derived from the hadith
- According to Imam Aḥmad, the ruling for deliberate homicide is one of two alternatives: retaliatory execution or payment of the blood money. The guardian of the victim may choose either course—carrying out the execution or accepting the blood money—even if the killer objects.