that he valued blood money for those whose wealth consists of gold at one thousand dinars. This is also reported from the Prophet—peace be upon him—in his letter to ʿAmr ibn Hazm. In reporting the assessment of blood money for those whose wealth consists of gold or silver, some narrators say that ʿUmar “valued” it, others that he “fixed” it, and others that he “ruled” accordingly. Al-Shāfiʿī’s position on this varied. His earlier position agreed with Mālik’s, whereas his later position was that blood money payable by those whose wealth consists of gold or silver is the value of the camels at the time judgment is given. He said: “ʿUmar valued blood money for those whose wealth consists of gold or silver; following his example therefore means assessing its value afresh at each particular time.”
Mālik’s position is sounder and preferable, because it is supported by a report traced back to the Prophet ﷺ, narrated by Ibn ʿAbbās, that he “awarded twelve thousand dirhams in blood money for a man of the Ansār killed by a client of Banū ʿAdī.” Concerning them this verse was revealed:
“They resented nothing except that Allah and His Messenger had enriched them out of His bounty.” [Al-Tawbah: 74]
As for Abū Hanīfa, he has no evidence for his position except what the Iraqi narrators reported from ʿUmar ibn al-Khattāb—may Allah be pleased with him—that he assessed blood money at ten thousand dirhams for those whose wealth consists of silver.
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According to Mālik and most scholars, nothing is accepted as blood money except camels, dinars, and dirhams. It has been reported “that the Prophet ﷺ prescribed blood money for people according to the wealth they possessed: one hundred camels for camel owners, one thousand sheep for sheep owners, two hundred cattle for cattle owners, and two hundred sets of two garments for those whose wealth consisted of cloaks.” This is the position of ʿAtāʾ and Qatāda. It is also reported that ʿUmar ibn al-Khattāb fixed blood money at one thousand dinars for those whose wealth consisted of gold, ten thousand dirhams for those whose wealth consisted of silver, one hundred camels for camel owners, two hundred cattle for cattle owners, two thousand sheep for sheep owners, and two hundred sets of two garments for those whose wealth consisted of such garments.
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Blood money for accidental killing is treated like the rest of the deceased’s estate: his debts are paid from it, his bequest takes effect in respect of it, and all his heirs inherit from it. If, however, the killer is among his heirs, he inherits none of it, since there is consensus that one who kills