Section
As for a jā’ifa, it is a bodily wound, not a head wound: it is a wound that reaches the body cavity, even through a needle-sized opening. It therefore occurs only in the back or abdomen. Its compensation is one-third of the blood money, whether inflicted deliberately or accidentally, since no retaliation applies to it because it is a potentially fatal injury. Mālik gave differing rulings when it passes right through the body: on one occasion he prescribed one-third of the blood money, and on another, two-thirds.
Section
According to Mālik, may Allah have mercy on him, no bodily wound other than a jā’ifa has a prescribed amount of compensation. In his Muwatta’, he reported that Sa‘īd ibn al-Musayyab said that any wound passing through a body part entails one-third of the blood money for that part, but he did not adopt this view. Sa‘īd ibn al-Musayyab said this—and Allah knows best—by analogy with a jā’ifa: since it is a wound penetrating the body cavity, which is a vital area, and entails one-third of the blood money, he prescribed one-third of the blood money for any body part accidentally pierced by a wound. This resembles the report from Umar ibn al-Khattāb, may Allah be pleased with him, that a mūdiha on the body entails one-twentieth of the blood money for the affected part, by analogy with a mūdiha on the head, since the head is a vital area.
Section
Wounds to the head and body fall into two categories: accidental and deliberate. Accidental wounds entail neither retaliation nor disciplinary punishment, but only financial compensation, payable from the offender’s own wealth if it amounts to less than one-third of his blood money, or one-third of the victim’s blood money, according to Mālik’s differing rulings on this matter. If it amounts to one-third or more, it is borne by the ‘āqila (those collectively liable for blood money). This is the position of Mālik and his companions, as well as that of the Seven Jurists of Medina, Ibn Abī Dhi’b, and Abd al-Azīz ibn Abī Salama.
Al-Shāfi‘ī said that the ‘āqila bears compensation for accidental injuries, whether the amount is small or large. One of his arguments is that, since the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, made the ‘āqila bear the greater amount, this indicates that it also bears the lesser: if it bears the whole, it bears every part of it.
Abū Hanīfa said that the ‘āqila bears compensation for an injury inflicted by a man when it reaches one-twentieth of his blood money, and for an injury inflicted by a woman when it reaches one-twentieth of hers.