and it may be said:

The fundamental question is whether the membership of the ʿāqilah is fixed by the revealed law, or whether it comprises whoever supports a person and comes to his aid, without specifying particular people. Those who adopt the first view restrict it to relatives, for they constituted the ʿāqilah in the Prophet’s time. Those who adopt the second regard a man’s ʿāqilah, in every time and place, as those who support him and come to his aid in that time and place. In the time of the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, it was a man’s relatives who supported him and came to his aid, so they constituted his ʿāqilah. There was then neither a state register nor stipends. When ʿUmar established the register, it was well known that the soldiers of each city supported and assisted one another, even if they were unrelated, so they constituted the ʿāqilah. This is the sounder of the two views: its composition varies according to circumstances.

Otherwise, consider a man who has settled in the West, where there are people who support him and come to his aid. How could his ʿāqilah consist of people in the East, in another kingdom, who may no longer even receive news of him? An inheritance, however, can be preserved for an absent heir. The Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace,

“ruled concerning a woman who had killed someone that the blood money payable on her behalf was the responsibility of her agnatic kin, while her inheritance belonged to her husband and sons.”

Thus, the heirs are distinct from the ʿāqilah. The same applies to allowing a three-year term for payment of the blood money. The Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, did not defer its payment, but ruled that it was payable immediately, whereas ʿUmar allowed three years for its payment. Many jurists therefore say that payment must be deferred, as ʿUmar ruled; some even consider this a matter of consensus. Others say that it must be paid immediately.

The correct view is that immediate or deferred payment depends on the circumstances and the interests served. If those liable are well-to-do and immediate payment would cause them no harm, it is collected