is of equal worth, with the noble enjoying no privilege over the weak. This is the great benefit brought by the laws of the prophets. Those who depart from the prophets’ laws, however, do not apply this principle without exception; they may refrain from executing a nobleman. If the king is just, he may implement some of it. This, then, is what Allah prescribed in the Torah: their blood is of equal worth, the least of them may grant protection binding upon them all, and they stand united against others. He likewise decreed that the blood of those who believe in Him, of every people, is of equal worth. Thus, by scholarly consensus, a free Muslim is executed in retaliation for killing another free Muslim, regardless of their respective peoples.

This also answers those who invoke the verse concerning the Torah to argue that a Muslim is executed in retaliation for killing a non-Muslim protected subject, citing His words:

“And We ordained for them therein: a life for a life,”

and the principle:

“The revealed law of those before us is binding upon us.”

The answer is that what was prescribed for them was a life from among them for a life from among them. They were all believers, with no unbeliever among them. Their law did not permit an unbeliever to remain among them, whether through payment of jizya (the poll tax) or otherwise. This resembles the law of Muhammad, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, which establishes that Muslims’ blood is of equal worth. Neither law states that an unbeliever’s blood is equal in worth to a Muslim’s. Rather, making faith the necessary basis for this equality indicates that it does not apply to an unbeliever—whether a protected subject or someone granted safe-conduct—since he lacks the faith required for that equality.

Its general wording may, however, be invoked in the case of a slave. There are no explicit, authentic texts concerning a slave like those concerning a non-Muslim protected subject. Rather, what has been reported is:

“Whoever kills his slave, we shall execute him in retaliation.”

This is because, if he kills him wrongfully, the ruler becomes the legal guardian of