and an elder brother, the elder brother may exact retaliation before the minor attains majority. The same rule holds for any other agnatic heir: they may hasten the execution and are not required to wait until the young sons come of age. A kinsman whose absence is extremely prolonged is treated like a minor if his return is judged unlikely—such as a captive in enemy territory. By contrast, a merely absent heir is given time so that his view on pardoning or seeking the blood-claim can be learned. One does not, however, wait for the minor to reach puberty, for such delay would be excessive and the blood-claim might be lost. The imam therefore exercises ijtihād on the minor’s behalf. He instructs the executor to choose for those in his care the safer course—pardon for the blood-money or pursuit of retaliation. If there is no executor, the guardian makes the decision, selecting whatever is most beneficial for them, whether accepting the diya or demanding retaliation.

If the victim himself pardons his killer, or if his heirs pardon the killer after his death, the killer is flogged one hundred lashes and imprisoned for a year, whether the victim was free or enslaved, Muslim or dhimmī. Should the victim of accidental killing issue such a pardon, it counts as a bequest from one-third of his estate; if the one-third cannot cover it, only what that share can bear is effective.

Retaliation is exacted for every unbeliever or dhimmī against any other unbeliever or dhimmī, for disbelief places them in a single category. When they bring their disputes to us, we adjudicate between them according to Islamic law regarding their wounds, blood-money, and collective liabilities (maʿāqil).

Retaliation becomes obligatory only through: (1) a confession made by one whose confession is admissible—being of age and sound mind—or (2) conclusive testimony of two upright witnesses or more that he killed the victim, or that he struck him and the victim thereafter remained unconscious, taking no food or drink and never regaining consciousness until he died. In all such cases retaliation is carried out without recourse to qasāma. But if, after the blow, the victim ate and drank, lived on, and later died, no one may be executed except on the basis of qasāma. We shall devote an extensive, separate chapter to qasāma, God willing.

Whoever commits a killing inside the Sacred Precinct (al-Ḥaram), or commits it outside and then seeks refuge within the Ḥaram, is to be executed there and is not to be taken out to non-sacred territory.