beside him. This was the man who had been accompanying them; he waited until the injured man remounted his horse, then accompanied him home but did not stay with him. The injured man fell from his horse a second time and was found dead the next morning. One of the deceased’s companions privately questioned the man who had accompanied them, without telling him of the death, and he related what had happened between the two men. Witnesses then testified against the accused that so-and-so had struck the deceased, although they had heard nothing from the deceased himself. The accused had not come forward, fearing punishment and wishing to avoid incriminating himself. The deceased left an infant daughter who was still nursing, as well as siblings.

He replied:

If the man who drank wine knew what he was saying, then, if he killed someone, he is a killer liable to retaliatory execution and the punishment for taking a life, by scholarly consensus. But if he was so intoxicated that he did not know what he was saying, or was even more intoxicated than that, and killed someone, is he liable to retaliatory execution and to be handed over to the slain person’s heirs for them to execute him if they wish?

The scholars hold two opinions on this, and two positions are reported from Ahmad. However, most jurists among the followers of Abū Hanīfa, Mālik and al-Shāfiʿī, and many of Ahmad’s followers, hold him liable to retaliatory execution, just as they would a sober person. If only one witness testifies to the killing, no judgment may be based on that testimony unless the slain person’s heirs also swear fifty oaths.

This applies if he died from the accused’s blow and that blow was an entirely unjustified assault. If, however, another person’s blow also contributed to his death, there is disagreement over retaliatory execution. Likewise, there is disagreement if he struck him to repel his aggression or struck him just as he himself had been struck, whether he died from another cause or otherwise. Allah knows best.

He was asked—may Allah have mercy on him:

About a man who promised another a specified sum of money to kill a Muslim, and the latter then killed him: what is he liable to under Islamic law?