He replied:

Praise be to Allah, Lord of all worlds. The deceased’s estate belongs to his heirs. The killer inherits nothing, by agreement of the imams. The mother receives one-third, the maternal half-brother one-sixth, and the remainder goes to the paternal cousin. The maternal grandfather receives nothing. As for the “endowment,” its disposition is governed by the donor’s stipulations that accord with Islamic law.

As for “the victim’s blood,” the right to seek retaliation belongs to his heirs: his mother, his brother, and the son of the paternal uncle who committed the killing, according to the schools of al-Shāfiʿī, Ahmad and others.

According to Mālik, if they disagree—the mother seeking one course and the paternal cousin another—the paternal cousin’s wishes take precedence, since he is the agnatic relative. This is one of the positions transmitted from Mālik, adopted by many of his followers. In the “second,” transmitted by Ibn al-Qāsim and followed in practice by the scholars of the Maghrib, the decision rests with whoever demands retaliation, whether the male agnatic heir or the female heir entitled to a prescribed share. The “third transmitted position” agrees with the school of al-Shāfiʿī: a pardon granted by any heir is valid, and the remaining heirs’ entitlement becomes a financial liability owed by the killer.

But may the paternal cousin put his own father to death? There are also two views on this. According to “the first,” he may not, as held by al-Shāfiʿī and by Ahmad in the well-known position transmitted from him. According to “the second,” he may, as Mālik held; this is also a position within Ahmad’s school. However, the right of retaliation belonged initially to the victim and then passed to the heir. Mālik nevertheless considered it reprehensible for him to put his father to death.

Anyone entitled to retaliation may pardon the killer or take blood money. If any of those entitled to retaliation grants a pardon, retaliation is waived, and the remaining heirs retain their entitlement to blood money. An entitled heir may take blood money without the killer’s consent according to the school of al-Shāfiʿī