had acted deliberately, I would have amputated a hand from each of you” (1).
Likewise, according to the great majority of scholars, a male is put to death in retaliation for killing a female, just as the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, put the Jewish man to death in retaliation for the woman (2).
The second category is accidental killing resembling (3) intentional killing. The Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, said: “Take heed: for an accidental killing resembling (4) an intentional one—one committed with a whip or a staff—the blood money is one hundred camels, including forty pregnant she-camels carrying their young in their wombs” (5). He therefore termed it quasi-intentional killing, because the offender intended to assault the victim through an injurious act (6), although such an act does not ordinarily prove fatal. Thus, he deliberately committed the assault but did not deliberately use a lethal means. According to the majority, this does not entail legal retaliation, as the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, indicated. Whether the blood money is payable by the killer himself or by his paternal kin responsible for blood money is disputed among jurists, both within Ahmad’s school and beyond it.
The third category (7) is purely accidental killing and cases treated in the same manner, such as when a person is