Tafseer of The Women · An-Nisaa · 4:92
And never is it for a believer to kill a believer except by mistake. And whoever kills a believer by mistake - then the freeing of a believing slave and a compensation payment presented to the deceased's family [is required] unless they give [up their right as] charity. But if the deceased was from a people at war with you and he was a believer - then [only] the freeing of a believing slave; and if he was from a people with whom you have a treaty - then a compensation payment presented to his family and the freeing of a believing slave. And whoever does not find [one or cannot afford to buy one] - then [instead], a fast for two months consecutively, [seeking] acceptance of repentance from Allah. And Allah is ever Knowing and Wise.
Important: The Arabic source text is always authoritative. This translation is a study aid and has not been verified by scholars — do not use it as a basis for religious proof or for deriving rulings (ahkam). When in doubt, always consult the Arabic text and a qualified scholar.
And it is not for a believer to kill a believer, except by mistake
The discourse on the interpretation of His statement: And it is not for a believer to kill a believer, except by mistake. The Exalted, whose praise is exalted, means by His statement And it is not for a believer to kill a believer, except by mistake: Allah has not permitted a believer, nor made it lawful for him, to kill a believer. He says: that in no way belongs to that which his Lord has permitted him and made lawful for him out of all matters. As: 7982 - Bishr ibn Muʿādh related to us, saying: Yazīd related to us, saying: Saʿīd related to us, on the authority of Qatāda, concerning His statement: And it is not for a believer to kill a believer, except by mistake — he says: that did not belong to him among that which came to him from his Lord, out of the covenant which Allah had concluded with him. And as for His statement except by mistake: he says: except that the believer sometimes kills the believer by mistake; and that does not belong to that which his Lord has granted him and made lawful for him. This is of the kind of exception that the grammarians call "the disconnected exception" (al-istithnāʾ al-munqaṭiʿ), as Jarīr ibn ʿAṭiyya said: "of the fair-skinned women who did not travel far and did not tread the earth, except for a cloak of adorned brocade" — that is to say: she trod the earth only when she trod the hem of the cloak, and the hem of a cloak does not belong to the earth.
It has been mentioned that this verse was revealed concerning ʿAyyāsh ibn Abī Rabīʿa al-Makhzūmī, who had killed a Muslim man after the latter's conversion to Islam, while he was unaware of his conversion. Mention of the reports about that: 7983 - Muḥammad ibn ʿAmr related to me, saying: Abū ʿĀṣim related to us, on the authority of ʿĪsā, on the authority of Ibn Abī Najīḥ, on the authority of Mujāhid, concerning the statement of Allah: And it is not for a believer to kill a believer, except by mistake — he said: ʿAyyāsh ibn Abī Rabīʿa killed a believing man who used to torture him together with Abū Jahl, and he was his half-brother on the mother's side. He followed the Prophet ﷺ, while he supposed that that man was still as he had been. ʿAyyāsh had emigrated as a believer to the Prophet ﷺ, and Abū Jahl, his half-brother on the mother's side, came and said: "Verily, your mother adjures you by her womb and her right that you return to her!" — and she was Asmāʾ bint Makhrama. So he returned with him, and Abū Jahl bound him until he reached Mecca. When the disbelievers saw him, that increased their disbelief and their trial, and they said: "Verily, Abū Jahl is able to obtain from Muḥammad what he wants, and he seizes his companions!" Likewise — Al-Muthannā related to me, saying: Abū Ḥudhayfa related to us, saying: Shibl related to us, on the authority of Ibn Abī Najīḥ, on the authority of Mujāhid, with a similar report, except that in his version he said: he followed the Prophet ﷺ — that man — while ʿAyyāsh supposed that he was a disbeliever as he had been; and ʿAyyāsh had emigrated as a believer to Medina; and Abū Jahl, his half-brother on the mother's side, came to him and said: "Verily, your mother adjures you by her womb and her right, that you return to her!" And he also said: and he seizes his companions and binds them.
7984 - Al-Qāsim related to us, saying: Al-Ḥusayn related to us, saying: Ḥajjāj related to me, on the authority of Ibn Jurayj, on the authority of Mujāhid, with a similar report. Ibn Jurayj said, on the authority of ʿIkrima, he said: Al-Ḥārith ibn Yazīd ibn Nubaysha, of the Banū ʿĀmir ibn Luʾayy, tortured ʿAyyāsh ibn Abī Rabīʿa together with Abū Jahl. Then al-Ḥārith ibn Yazīd set out as an emigrant to the Prophet ﷺ, and ʿAyyāsh met him at al-Ḥarra and struck him with the sword until he silenced him, while he supposed that he was a disbeliever. Then he came to the Prophet ﷺ and gave him a report, and there was revealed: And it is not for a believer to kill a believer, except by mistake... the verse; and he recited it to him and then said to him: "Arise and free a slave."
7985 - Muḥammad ibn al-Ḥusayn related to us, saying: Aḥmad ibn al-Mufaḍḍal related to us, saying: Asbāṭ related to us, on the authority of al-Suddī: And it is not for a believer to kill a believer, except by mistake — he said: this was revealed concerning ʿAyyāsh ibn Abī Rabīʿa al-Makhzūmī, who was the half-brother on the mother's side of Abū Jahl ibn Hishām. He accepted Islam and emigrated with the first emigrants, before the arrival of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ. Then Abū Jahl and al-Ḥārith ibn Hishām went to seek him, accompanied by a man of the Banū ʿĀmir ibn Luʾayy, and they came to him at Medina. ʿAyyāsh was the most beloved of his brothers to his mother, and they spoke to him and said: "Verily, your mother has sworn that no roof shall give her shade until she sees you, and she lies prostrate in the sun; so come to her, that she may look upon you, and then return!" And they gave him an oath by Allah that they would not detain him until he returned to Medina. One of his companions gave him a noble mount of his and said: "If you fear anything from them, then mount the noble steed." But when they had led him out of Medina, they seized him and bound him, and the ʿĀmirī flogged him, whereupon he swore to kill the ʿĀmirī. He remained a captive at Mecca until he set out on the Day of the Conquest. Then the ʿĀmirī met him — who had by then accepted Islam, while ʿAyyāsh did not know of his conversion — and he struck him and killed him. Then Allah revealed: And it is not for a believer to kill a believer, except by mistake — He says: while he did not know that he was a believer; And whoever kills a believer by mistake, upon him is the freeing of a believing slave and a blood-money (diya) delivered to his family, unless they remit it as charity — that is to say: then they let go of the blood-money.
And others said: this verse was revealed concerning Abū al-Dardāʾ. Mention of who said that: 7986 - Yūnus related to me, saying: Ibn Wahb informed us, saying: Ibn Zayd said concerning His statement: And it is not for a believer to kill a believer, except by mistake... the verse. He said: this was revealed concerning a man whom Abū al-Dardāʾ killed. They were in a raiding party, and Abū al-Dardāʾ turned aside to a mountain pass for a need of his, and he came upon a man of the people with some sheep of his. He attacked him with the sword, and the man said: "There is no god but Allah", but he struck him down nonetheless and then brought his sheep to the people. Then he felt something in his inner self, and he came to the Prophet ﷺ and mentioned that to him. The Messenger of Allah ﷺ said to him: "Did you then split open his heart?" He said: "What would I expect to find therein? Is it, O Messenger of Allah, anything other than blood or water?" He said: "He proclaimed it to you with his tongue, and you did not believe him." He said: "How shall it be with me, O Messenger of Allah?" He said: "How shall it be with 'there is no god but Allah'?" He said: "How shall it be with me, O Messenger of Allah?" He said: "How shall it be with 'there is no god but Allah'?" — until I wished that that had been the beginning of my Islam. He said: and the Qurʾān was revealed: And it is not for a believer to kill a believer, except by mistake... until he reached: unless they remit it as charity — he said: unless they let it go.
Abū Jaʿfar said: The correct view about this is to say: Allah made known to His servants through this verse what is incumbent upon whoever kills a believer by mistake, in expiation (kaffāra) and blood-money. It is possible that the verse was revealed concerning ʿAyyāsh ibn Abī Rabīʿa and his victim, and concerning Abū al-Dardāʾ and his companion. And in any case, what Allah the Exalted intended by the verse is the making known to His servants of what we have mentioned; and those among His servants who grasped His revelation with understanding have understood that. It does not harm them that they are ignorant about whom the verse concerns.
And whoever kills a believer by mistake, upon him is the freeing of a believing slave
Then the Exalted, whose praise is exalted, informed His servants about the ruling concerning whoever of the believers is killed by mistake, and said: And whoever kills a believer by mistake, upon him is the freeing of a slave — He says: upon him is the freeing of a believing slave out of his property, and a blood-money that is delivered, which his solidarity group (ʿāqila) pays to his family; unless they remit it as charity — He says: unless the family of the one killed by mistake remits it as charity to the one upon whom the blood-money for their victim rests, and they forgive him and pass over his debt, so that it lapses from him. The position of "an" in His statement unless they remit it as charity is in the accusative, because the meaning is: upon him is that, unless they remit it as charity.
As for the believing slave: the scholars differed about his characterization. Some of them said: a slave is not regarded as "believing" unless he himself has chosen the faith after reaching adulthood, and has prayed and fasted; and the child does not deserve this description. Mention of who said that: 7987 - Yaʿqūb ibn Ibrāhīm related to me, saying: Ibn ʿUlayya related to us, on the authority of Abū Ḥayyān, he said: I asked al-Shaʿbī about His statement: the freeing of a believing slave — he said: one who has already prayed and has come to know the faith. 7988 - Al-Muthannā related to me, saying: Abū Ṣāliḥ related to us, saying: Muʿāwiya related to me, on the authority of ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭalḥa, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās, concerning His statement: the freeing of a believing slave — he means by "believing": whoever has understood the faith and has fasted and prayed. 7989 - Abū Kurayb related to us, saying: Wakīʿ related to us, on the authority of al-Aʿmash, on the authority of Ibrāhīm, he said: everything in the Qurʾān that is "a believing slave", for that none suffices except whoever has fasted and prayed; and everything in the Qurʾān that is "a slave" who is not "believing", for that a child suffices. 7990 - It was related to me on the authority of Yazīd ibn Hārūn, on the authority of Hishām ibn Ḥassān, on the authority of al-Ḥasan, he said: everything in the Book of Allah that is the freeing of a believing slave, for that applies: whoever has fasted, prayed and understood; and when He says: the freeing of a slave — then: whatever one wishes. 7991 - Al-Ḥasan ibn Yaḥyā related to us, saying: ʿAbd al-Razzāq informed us, saying: al-Thawrī informed us, on the authority of al-Aʿmash, on the authority of Ibrāhīm, he said: everything in the Qurʾān that is a believing slave, that is the one who has already prayed; and what is not "believing", that is the freeing of one who has not prayed. 7992 - Bishr ibn Muʿādh related to us, saying: Yazīd related to us, saying: Saʿīd related to us, on the authority of Qatāda: the freeing of a believing slave — and the believing slave according to Qatāda is: whoever has already prayed. And he abhorred that one should free in this case a child who had not yet prayed and had not yet reached that age. 7993 - Yaḥyā ibn Ṭalḥa al-Yarbūʿī related to me, saying: Fuḍayl ibn ʿIyāḍ related to us, on the authority of Mughīra, on the authority of Ibrāhīm, concerning His statement: the freeing of a believing slave — he said: when he has understood his religion. 7994 - Al-Muthannā related to us, saying: Isḥāq related to us, saying: ʿAbd al-Razzāq related to us, on the authority of Maʿmar, on the authority of Qatāda, he said concerning: the freeing of a believing slave — for that no child suffices. 7995 - Al-Muthannā related to me, saying: ʿAbd Allāh ibn Ṣāliḥ related to us, saying: Muʿāwiya related to me, on the authority of ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭalḥa, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās: the freeing of a believing slave — he means by "believing": whoever has already understood the faith and has fasted and prayed; and if he does not find a slave, then the fasting of two consecutive months, and upon him is a blood-money delivered to his family, unless they remit it to him as charity.
And others said: when he is born of two Muslim parents, then he is a believer, even if he is a child. Mention of who said that: 7996 - Abū Kurayb related to us, saying: Wakīʿ related to us, on the authority of Sufyān, on the authority of Ibn Jurayj, on the authority of ʿAṭāʾ, he said: every slave who is born in Islam suffices.
Abū Jaʿfar said: The correct of the two views in this is the view of whoever says: in killing by mistake, none of the slaves suffices except whoever has already believed and understands the faith, among the men and women, if he belonged to those who had two parents who followed a religion other than Islam, or who was born an orphan and remained so, and thereafter neither he himself nor either of his parents accepted Islam until he was freed as expiation for killing by mistake. But whoever is born of two Muslim parents — about that everyone among the scholars agrees that he, even if he has not reached the limit of choice and discernment and has not attained puberty, is treated according to the ruling of the believers as regards inheritance, the prayer over him if he dies, what is incumbent upon him if he commits an offense, what is due to him if an offense is committed against him, and marriage. If that is a consensus among all of them, then it is necessary that there also applies to him, as regards that for which he suffices as expiation for killing by mistake if he is freed therein, the ruling of the believers, just like what applies to him of the ruling of faith in all the other matters that we have named and others. Whoever refuses that, for him the matter is reversed, and when he is then asked about the distinction between them on the basis of a fundamental principle or analogy, he will not render any judgment in any of these without its like being imposed upon him in another case.
and a blood-money delivered to his family, unless they remit it as charity
As for the blood-money that is delivered to the family of the victim: it is that which is delivered to them in accordance with what is due to them, in full and without the rights of their family being curtailed thereof. It has been mentioned about Ibn ʿAbbās that he used to say: it is the full amount. 7997 - Al-Qāsim related to us, saying: Al-Ḥusayn related to us, saying: Ḥajjāj related to me, on the authority of Ibn Jurayj, he said: Ibn ʿAbbās said concerning His statement: and a blood-money delivered to his family — he said: in full. And as for His statement: unless they remit it as charity — by it He means: unless they remit the blood-money as charity to the killer or to his solidarity group; the tāʾ in His statement "yataṣaddaqū" was assimilated into the ṣād, so that the two became one ṣād. It has been mentioned that in the reading of Ubayy it stands as: unless they remit it as charity (yataṣaddaqū). 7998 - Al-Muthannā related to me, saying: Isḥāq related to us, saying: Bakr ibn al-Shurūd: in the version of Ubayy: unless they remit it as charity (yataṣaddaqū).
If he belongs to a people hostile to you, while he is a believer, then the freeing of a believing slave
The discourse on the interpretation of His statement: If he belongs to a people hostile to you, while he is a believer, then the freeing of a believing slave. The Exalted, whose praise is exalted, means by His statement If he belongs to a people hostile to you, while he is a believer: if this victim whom the believer killed by mistake belongs to a people hostile to you — that is to say: to a group of people who are your enemies in religion, polytheists, who have not given up war against you because of your opposition to them for the sake of Islam — while he is a believer, then the freeing of a believing slave — He says: when the Muslim kills by mistake a man from the group of the polytheists, while the slain is a believer and the killer supposes that he is still in his disbelief, then upon him is the freeing of a believing slave.
The interpreters differed about the meaning of that. Some of them said: the meaning is: and if the slain belongs to a people hostile to you, while he is a believer — that is to say: in your midst, not having emigrated — and a believer kills him, then upon him is no blood-money, but rather the freeing of a believing slave. Mention of who said that: 7999 - Muḥammad ibn Bashshār related to us, saying: Yaḥyā ibn Saʿīd related to us, on the authority of Sufyān, on the authority of Simāk, on the authority of ʿIkrima and al-Mughīra, on the authority of Ibrāhīm, concerning His statement: If he belongs to a people hostile to you, while he is a believer — he said: that is the man who accepts Islam in the territory of war (dār al-ḥarb) and is killed. He said: for that there is no blood-money, but rather the expiation. 8000 - Ibn Wakīʿ related to us, saying: my father related to us, on the authority of Isrāʾīl, on the authority of Simāk, on the authority of ʿIkrima, concerning His statement: If he belongs to a people hostile to you, while he is a believer — he said: that is to say: the slain is a believer while his people are disbelievers; he said: then for him there is no blood-money, but rather the freeing of a believing slave. 8001 - Al-Muthannā related to us, saying: Abū Ghassān related to us, saying: Isrāʾīl related to us, on the authority of Simāk, on the authority of ʿIkrima, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās, concerning His statement: If he belongs to a people hostile to you, while he is a believer — he said: the man is a believer while his people are disbelievers, then for him there is no blood-money, but rather the freeing of a believing slave. 8002 - Muḥammad ibn al-Ḥusayn related to us, saying: Aḥmad ibn al-Mufaḍḍal related to us, saying: Asbāṭ related to us, on the authority of al-Suddī: If he belongs to a people hostile to you, while he is a believer — in the territory of disbelief, He says: then the freeing of a believing slave, and for him there is no blood-money. 8003 - Bishr ibn Muʿādh related to us, saying: Yazīd related to us, saying: Saʿīd related to us, on the authority of Qatāda: If he belongs to a people hostile to you, while he is a believer, then the freeing of a believing slave — and for his family there is no blood-money, because they are disbelievers and there exists between them and Allah no covenant nor pact of protection (dhimma). Likewise — Al-Muthannā related to me, saying: Al-Ḥajjāj related to us, saying: Ḥammād related to us, saying: ʿAṭāʾ ibn al-Sāʾib informed us, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās that he said concerning the statement of Allah: And if he belongs to a people hostile to you, while he is a believer... to the end of the verse, he said: the man used to accept Islam, then come to his people and dwell among them while they were polytheists; then the army of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ passed by them, and he was killed among those who were killed; then his killer frees a slave and for him there is no blood-money. 8004 - Ibn Ḥumayd related to us, saying: Jarīr related to us, on the authority of Mughīra, on the authority of Ibrāhīm: If he belongs to a people hostile to you, while he is a believer, then the freeing of a slave — he said: this is when the Muslim man belongs to a people hostile to you — that is to say: they have no covenant — and he is killed by mistake; then upon whoever killed him is the freeing of a believing slave. Likewise — Al-Muthannā related to me, saying: Abū Ṣāliḥ related to us, saying: Muʿāwiya related to me, on the authority of ʿAlī, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās: If he belongs to a people hostile to you, while he is a believer — if he is among the combatants while he is a believer, and he is killed by mistake, then upon his killer is that he makes expiation by the freeing of a believing slave, or the fasting of two consecutive months, and for him there is no blood-money. 8005 - Yūnus related to me, saying: Ibn Wahb informed us, saying: Ibn Zayd said concerning His statement: If he belongs to a people hostile to you, while he is a believer — the victim is a Muslim and his people are disbelievers; then the freeing of a believing slave, and one does not pay them the blood-money, so that they may not strengthen themselves thereby against you.
And others said: no, by it is meant the man from the combatant people who comes to the territory of Islam, accepts Islam, and then returns to the territory of war; then when the army of the people of Islam passes by them, his people flee, but that Muslim among them remains there, and the Muslims kill him while they take him for a disbeliever. Mention of who said that: 8006 - Muḥammad ibn Saʿd related to me, saying: my father related to me, saying: my uncle related to me, saying: my father related to me, on the authority of his father, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās: If he belongs to a people hostile to you, while he is a believer, then the freeing of a believing slave — that is the believer who is among the enemy of the polytheists; they hear of the raiding party of the companions of Muḥammad ﷺ and flee, but the believer stands firm and is killed; for that applies the freeing of a believing slave.
And if he belongs to a people between whom and you there is a treaty, then a blood-money delivered to his family and the freeing of a believing slave
The discourse on the interpretation of His statement: And if he belongs to a people between whom and you there is a treaty, then a blood-money delivered to his family and the freeing of a believing slave. The Exalted, whose praise is exalted, means by His statement And if he belongs to a people between whom and you there is a treaty: and if the victim whom the believer killed by mistake belongs to a people between whom and you, O believers, there is a treaty — that is to say: a covenant and a pact of protection (dhimma) — and they are not combatants against you, then a blood-money delivered to his family — He says: then upon his killer is a blood-money that is delivered to his family, which his solidarity group bears, and the freeing of a believing slave as expiation for killing him.
Then the interpreters differed about the characterization of this victim who belongs to a people between whom and us there is a treaty: is he a believer or a disbeliever? Some of them said: he is a disbeliever, but his blood-money nonetheless rests upon his killer, because he and his people have a covenant; therefore the payment of his blood-money to his people is obligatory because of the covenant that exists between them and the believers, and because it is a property of their properties, and it is not permitted for the believers to take anything of their properties without their consent. Mention of who said that: 8007 - Al-Muthannā related to me, saying: ʿAbd Allāh ibn Ṣāliḥ related to us, saying: Muʿāwiya related to me, on the authority of ʿAlī, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās: And if he belongs to a people between whom and you there is a treaty — he says: when he is a disbeliever under your protection (dhimma) and he is killed, then upon his killer is the blood-money, delivered to his family, and the freeing of a believing slave, or the fasting of two consecutive months. 8008 - Yaʿqūb ibn Ibrāhīm related to me, saying: Ibn ʿUlayya related to us, on the authority of Ayyūb, he said: I heard al-Zuhrī say: the blood-money of the dhimmī is equal to the blood-money of the Muslim. He said: and he used to interpret it as: And if he belongs to a people between whom and you there is a treaty, then a blood-money delivered to his family. 8009 - Al-Muthannā related to me, saying: Isḥāq related to us, saying: ʿAbd Allāh ibn Idrīs related to us, on the authority of ʿĪsā ibn Abī al-Mughīra, on the authority of al-Shaʿbī, concerning His statement: And if he belongs to a people between whom and you there is a treaty, then a blood-money delivered to his family — he said: of the people of the covenant, and he is not a believer. 8010 - Al-Muthannā related to me, saying: Isḥāq related to us, saying: Ibn Mahdī related to us, on the authority of Hushaym, on the authority of Mughīra, on the authority of Ibrāhīm: And if he belongs to a people between whom and you there is a treaty — and he is not a believer. 8011 - Bishr ibn Muʿādh related to us, saying: Yazīd related to us, saying: Saʿīd related to us, on the authority of Qatāda: And if he belongs to a people between whom and you there is a treaty, then a blood-money delivered to his family and the freeing of a believing slave — because of killing him, that is to say: because of whom he struck of the people of his dhimma and his covenant; and whoever does not find it, then the fasting of two consecutive months, as repentance from Allah... the verse. 8012 - Yūnus related to me, saying: Ibn Wahb informed us, saying: Ibn Zayd said concerning His statement: And if he belongs to a people between whom and you there is a treaty, then a blood-money delivered to his family — he says: then pay them the blood-money because of the treaty. He said: and the people of the dhimma fall under this, and the freeing of a believing slave; and whoever does not find it, then the fasting of two consecutive months.
And others said: no, he is a believer, and upon his killer is a blood-money that he pays to his people of the polytheists, because they are people of the dhimma. Mention of who said that: 8013 - Ibn Ḥumayd related to me, saying: Jarīr related to us, on the authority of Mughīra, on the authority of Ibrāhīm: And if he belongs to a people between whom and you there is a treaty, then a blood-money delivered to his family and the freeing of a believing slave — he said: this is the Muslim man whose people are polytheists with whom there is a treaty; then his blood-money is for his people and his inheritance is for the Muslims, and his people bear his solidarity burden (ʿaql) and his blood-money is due to them. 8014 - Al-Muthannā related to me, saying: Suwayd related to us, saying: Ibn al-Mubārak informed us, on the authority of Hushaym, on the authority of Abū Isḥāq al-Kūfī, on the authority of Jābir ibn Zayd, concerning His statement: And if he belongs to a people between whom and you there is a treaty — he said: and he is a believer. 8015 - Al-Muthannā related to me, saying: Isḥāq related to us, saying: Ibn Mahdī related to us, on the authority of Ḥammād ibn Salama, on the authority of Yūnus, on the authority of al-Ḥasan, concerning His statement: And if he belongs to a people between whom and you there is a treaty — he said: he is a disbeliever.
Abū Jaʿfar said: The correct of the two views in this, concerning the interpretation of the verse, is the view of whoever says: by it is meant the victim from the people of the covenant, because Allah left that unspecified and said: And if he belongs to a people between whom and you and did not say: "while he is a believer", as He did say in the case of the victim from among the believers and from among the combatants; or He meant the believer among them, while he is a believer. In His omitting to describe him with faith, with which He did describe the two previously mentioned victims, there thus lies the clear proof for the correctness of what we have said about this. If anyone should suppose that in His statement, glorified and exalted, then a blood-money delivered to his family there lies a proof that he belongs to the people of faith — because the blood-money according to him applies only to a believer — then he has supposed wrongly; and that is because the blood-money of the dhimmī and that of the people of Islam are equal, on account of the consensus of all of them that the blood-moneys of their disbelieving slaves and those of the slaves of the believers from among the people of faith are equal; likewise the ruling concerning the blood-moneys of their free persons is equal. With the proviso that, even if their blood-moneys were as the one who contradicts us says — namely that he sets them at half the blood-moneys of the people of faith, or at a third — there would be in that no proof that by His statement And if he belongs to a people between whom and you there is a treaty someone from the people of faith is meant; for the blood-money of the believing woman — about that there is no disagreement among all, except from one whose disagreement does not count — is half the blood-money of the believing man, and that does not withdraw it from being a blood-money. Likewise the ruling concerning the blood-moneys of the people of the dhimma, even if they were less than the blood-moneys of the people of faith, would not withdraw them from being blood-moneys. How then, while the matter is contrary to that and their blood-moneys and the blood-moneys of the believers are equal?
And as for the treaty (mīthāq): it is the covenant and the pact of protection (dhimma), and we have set forth elsewhere that this is so, and the fundamental principle from which it is derived, in a manner that absolves us from repeating it in this place. Mention of who said that: 8016 - Muḥammad ibn al-Ḥusayn related to us, saying: Aḥmad ibn al-Mufaḍḍal related to us, saying: Asbāṭ related to us, on the authority of al-Suddī, concerning His statement: And if he belongs to a people between whom and you there is a treaty — he says: a covenant. 8017 - Al-Ḥasan ibn Yaḥyā related to us, saying: ʿAbd al-Razzāq informed us, saying: Maʿmar informed us, on the authority of al-Zuhrī, concerning His statement: And if he belongs to a people between whom and you there is a treaty — he said: that is the treaty. 8018 - Al-Muthannā related to me, saying: Abū Ghassān related to us, saying: Isrāʾīl related to us, on the authority of Simāk, on the authority of ʿIkrima, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās: And if he belongs to a people between whom and you there is a treaty — a covenant. 8019 - Ibn Wakīʿ related to us, saying: my father related to us, on the authority of Isrāʾīl, on the authority of Simāk, on the authority of ʿIkrima, the same.
If a questioner should ask: and what is the characterization of the "by mistake" by which, when the believer kills the believer or the covenanter, the blood-money and the expiation are imposed upon him? — then it is answered: that is what al-Nakhaʿī said about it. And that is that which: 8020 - Ibn Bashshār related to us, saying: ʿAbd al-Raḥmān ibn Mahdī related to us, saying: Sufyān related to us, on the authority of al-Mughīra, on the authority of Ibrāhīm, he said: the mistake is that he aims at something but strikes something else. 8021 - Abū Kurayb and Yaʿqūb ibn Ibrāhīm related to us, both saying: Hushaym related to us, on the authority of Mughīra, on the authority of Ibrāhīm, he said: the mistake is that he throws at something and strikes a human being while he does not aim at him; that is by mistake, and it rests upon the solidarity group (ʿāqila).
If he says: and what is the blood-money due in that case? — then it is answered: as for the killing of the believer, it is a hundred camels, if he belongs to the people of camels, borne by the solidarity group of his killer; about that there is no disagreement among all, even though about the ages of those camels there is disagreement among the scholars. Some of them say: it is in quarters: twenty-five of them ḥiqqa (three-year-old), twenty-five jadhaʿa (four-year-old), twenty-five bint makhāḍ (one-year-old) and twenty-five bint labūn (two-year-old). Mention of who said that: 8022 - Ibn Bashshār related to us, saying: ʿAbd al-Raḥmān related to us, saying: Sufyān related to us, on the authority of Manṣūr, on the authority of Ibrāhīm, on the authority of ʿAlī, may Allah be pleased with him: in the case of the mistake that resembles intent (shibh al-ʿamd): thirty-three ḥiqqa, thirty-three jadhaʿa, and thirty-four thaniyya up to bāzil ʿāmihā; and in the case of the pure mistake: twenty-five ḥiqqa, twenty-five jadhaʿa, twenty-five bint makhāḍ and twenty-five bint labūn. Likewise — Ibn Bashshār related to us, saying: ʿAbd al-Raḥmān related to us, saying: Sufyān related to us, on the authority of Firās and al-Shaybānī, on the authority of al-Shaʿbī, on the authority of ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭālib, with the like. Likewise — Ibn Bashshār related to us, saying: ʿAbd al-Raḥmān related to us, saying: Sufyān related to us, on the authority of Abū Isḥāq, on the authority of ʿĀṣim ibn Ḍamra, on the authority of ʿAlī, may Allah be pleased with him, with something similar. Likewise — Wāṣil ibn ʿAbd al-Aʿlā related to me, saying: Ibn Fuḍayl related to us, on the authority of Ashʿath ibn Sawwār, on the authority of al-Shaʿbī, on the authority of ʿAlī, may Allah be pleased with him, that he said: in killing by mistake the blood-money is a hundred, in quarters, and then he mentioned the like.
And others said: it is in fifths: twenty ḥiqqa, twenty jadhaʿa, twenty bint labūn, twenty ibn labūn and twenty bint makhāḍ. Mention of who said that: 8023 - Muḥammad ibn Bashshār related to us, saying: Ibn Abī ʿAdī related to us, on the authority of Saʿīd, on the authority of Qatāda, on the authority of Abū Mijlaz, on the authority of Abū ʿUbayda, on the authority of his father, on the authority of ʿAbd Allāh ibn Masʿūd, he said: in the case of the mistake: twenty ḥiqqa, twenty jadhaʿa, twenty bint labūn, twenty ibn labūn and twenty bint makhāḍ. Likewise — Wāṣil ibn ʿAbd al-Aʿlā related to us, saying: Ibn Fuḍayl related to us, on the authority of Ashʿath, on the authority of ʿĀmir, on the authority of ʿAbd Allāh ibn Masʿūd: in killing by mistake a hundred camels in fifths: five jadhaʿ, five ḥiqāq, five bint labūn, five bint makhāḍ and five banī makhāḍ. Likewise — Mujāhid ibn Mūsā related to us, saying: Yazīd related to us, saying: Sulaymān al-Taymī informed us, on the authority of Abū Mijlaz, on the authority of Abū ʿUbayda, on the authority of ʿAbd Allāh, he said: the blood-money is in fifths in the case of the mistake: five bint makhāḍ, five bint labūn, five ḥiqāq, five jadhaʿ and five banī makhāḍ. The one who proclaimed this view adduced as argument the report: 8024 - Abū Hishām al-Rifāʿī related that to us, saying: Yaḥyā ibn Abī Zāʾida and Abū Khālid al-Aḥmar related to us, on the authority of Ḥajjāj, on the authority of Zayd ibn Jubayr, on the authority of al-Khishf ibn Mālik, on the authority of ʿAbd Allāh ibn Masʿūd: that the Prophet ﷺ judged concerning the blood-money in the case of the mistake that it was in fifths. Abū Hishām said: Ibn Abī Zāʾida said: twenty ḥiqqa, twenty jadhaʿa, twenty ibnat labūn, twenty ibnat makhāḍ and twenty ibn makhāḍ. Likewise — Abū Hishām related to us, saying: Yaḥyā related to us, on the authority of his father, on the authority of Abū Isḥāq, on the authority of ʿAlqama, on the authority of ʿAbd Allāh that he judged to that effect.
And others said: it is in quarters, except that it is thirty ḥiqqa, thirty bint labūn, twenty bint makhāḍ and twenty male ibn labūn. Mention of who said that: 8025 - Ibn Bashshār related to us, saying: Muḥammad ibn Bakr related to me, saying: Saʿīd related to us, on the authority of Qatāda, on the authority of ʿAbd Rabbihi, on the authority of Abū ʿIyāḍ, on the authority of ʿUthmān and Zayd ibn Thābit, both saying: in the case of the mistake that resembles intent: forty jadhaʿa khalifa (pregnant), thirty ḥiqqa and thirty bint makhāḍ; and in the case of the mistake: thirty ḥiqqa, thirty jadhaʿa, twenty bint makhāḍ and twenty male ibn labūn. 8026 - Ibn Bashshār related to us, saying: Ibn Abī ʿAdī related to us, on the authority of Saʿīd, on the authority of Qatāda, on the authority of Saʿīd ibn al-Musayyab, on the authority of Zayd ibn Thābit concerning the blood-money in the case of the mistake: thirty ḥiqqa, thirty bint labūn, twenty bint makhāḍ and twenty male ibn labūn. Likewise — Ibn Bashshār related to us, saying: Ibn ʿUthma related to us, saying: Saʿīd ibn Bashīr related to us, on the authority of Qatāda, on the authority of ʿAbd Rabbihi, on the authority of Abū ʿIyāḍ, on the authority of ʿUthmān ibn ʿAffān, may Allah be pleased with him; he said: and Saʿīd related to us, on the authority of Qatāda, on the authority of Saʿīd ibn al-Musayyab, on the authority of Zayd ibn Thābit, the same.
Abū Jaʿfar said: The correct view about this is that all agree that in the case of the pure mistake there rest, borne by the people of camels, a hundred camels. Then they differed about the ages thereof, but they agreed that in it one does not go below the least of what we have mentioned of the ages that the persons whose disagreement we mentioned have delimited, and that one does not go above the highest thereof for the one to whom they are due. If that is a consensus among all of them, then it is necessary that, for whoever owes the blood-money for killing by mistake, it suffices that he — whichever of these ages about which those who differed disagreed — pays it to the one to whom it is due, because Allah the Exalted has not delimited that with a bound that one may not overstep nor fall below, and neither has His Messenger, except for what I have named of their consensus about that on which they agreed; for it is not permitted to the imam to overstep that in judgment with diminution nor with increase, and the choice belongs to him within that margin toward what he deems best for both parties.
And if the solidarity group of the killer belongs to the people of gold, then to the heirs of the victim there is due from them, according to us, a thousand dīnār, and toward this the scholars of the cities incline. Some of them said: that is a valuation by ʿUmar, may Allah be pleased with him, of the camels borne by the people of gold in his time; and the correct view is that in every age one determines the value thereof when the camels are lacking with the solidarity group of the killer. They adduced as argument what: 8027 - Ibn Bashshār related to us, saying: ʿAbd al-Raḥmān related to us, saying: Sufyān related to us, on the authority of Ayyūb ibn Mūsā, on the authority of Makḥūl, he said: the blood-money used to rise and fall; the Messenger of Allah ﷺ passed away while it amounted to eight hundred dīnār; then ʿUmar after him feared, and he set it at twelve thousand dirhams or a thousand dīnār.
And as for those who made it obligatory in every age, borne by the people of gold, at a thousand dīnār of gold, they said: that is an obligation that Allah imposed by the mouth of His Messenger, just as He imposed the camels on the people of camels. They said: and in the consensus of the scholars of the cities in every epoch and every age — with a few exceptions — that it is not raised above a thousand dīnār nor diminished below it, there lies the clearest proof that it is that which is obligatory, borne by the people of gold, as the camels are obligatory, borne by the people of camels; for if it were the value of a hundred camels, that would differ with rise and fall on account of the change of the prices of camels. And this view is the correct one therein, on account of what we have mentioned of the consensus of the authoritative proof about that. And as for the silver, borne by the people of silver, it is according to us twelve thousand dirhams; and we have set forth the grounds for that in our book "Kitāb laṭīf al-qawl fī aḥkām sharāʾiʿ al-islām". And others said: borne by the people of silver there rests only ten thousand dirhams of silver.
And as for the blood-money of the covenanter between whom and whose people there is a treaty: the scholars differed about its amount. Some of them said: his blood-money and the blood-money of the free Muslim are equal. Mention of who said that: 8028 - Al-Muthannā related to me, saying: Isḥāq related to us, saying: Bishr ibn al-Sarī related to us, on the authority of Ibrāhīm ibn Saʿd, on the authority of al-Zuhrī: that Abū Bakr and ʿUthmān, may Allah's pleasure be upon them, equated the blood-money of the Jew and the Christian, when they were covenanters, to the blood-money of the Muslim. 8029 - Al-Muthannā related to me, saying: Isḥāq related to us, saying: Bishr ibn al-Sarī related to us, on the authority of al-Dastawāʾī, on the authority of Yaḥyā ibn Abī Kathīr, on the authority of al-Ḥakam ibn ʿUyayna: that Ibn Masʿūd equated the blood-money of the People of the Book, when they were people of the dhimma, to the blood-money of the Muslims. 8030 - Muḥammad ibn al-Muthannā related to us, saying: Muḥammad ibn Jaʿfar related to us, saying: Shuʿba related to us, on the authority of Ḥammād, he said: ʿAbd al-Ḥamīd asked me about the blood-money of the People of the Book, and I informed him that Ibrāhīm said: their blood-money and our blood-money are equal. 8031 - Ibn al-Muthannā related to us, saying: Abū al-Walīd related to us, saying: Ḥammād related to us, on the authority of Ibrāhīm, and Dāwūd on the authority of al-Shaʿbī, that they both said: the blood-money of the Jew, the Christian and the Magian (majūsī) is equal to the blood-money of the free Muslim. 8032 - Yaʿqūb ibn Ibrāhīm related to me, saying: Hushaym related to us, on the authority of Mughīra, on the authority of Ibrāhīm, he said: one used to say: the blood-money of the Jew, the Christian and the Magian is equal to the blood-money of the Muslim when he has a dhimma. 8033 - Yaʿqūb related to me, saying: Ibn ʿUlayya related to us, saying: Ibn Abī Najīḥ related to us, on the authority of Mujāhid and ʿAṭāʾ, that they both said: the blood-money of the covenanter is the blood-money of the Muslim. Likewise — Sawwār ibn ʿAbd Allāh related to us, saying: Bishr ibn al-Mufaḍḍal related to us, saying: al-Masʿūdī related to us, on the authority of Ḥammād, on the authority of Ibrāhīm, that he said: the blood-money of the Muslim and the covenanter are equal. 8034 - Yaʿqūb related to me, saying: Ibn ʿUlayya related to us, on the authority of Ayyūb, he said: I heard al-Zuhrī say: the blood-money of the dhimmī is the blood-money of the Muslim. 8035 - Abū Kurayb related to us, saying: Ibn Abī Zāʾida related to us, on the authority of Ashʿath, on the authority of ʿĀmir, he said: the blood-money of the dhimmī is equal to the blood-money of the Muslim. Likewise — Abū Kurayb related to us, saying: Ibn Abī Zāʾida related to us, on the authority of Saʿīd ibn Abī ʿArūba, on the authority of Abū Maʿshar, on the authority of Ibrāhīm, the same. Likewise — Abū al-Sāʾib related to me, saying: Abū Muʿāwiya related to us, on the authority of al-Aʿmash, on the authority of Ibrāhīm, the same. 8036 - ʿAbd al-Ḥamīd ibn Bayān related to us, saying: Muḥammad ibn Yazīd informed us, on the authority of Ismāʿīl, on the authority of ʿĀmir, and it had reached him that al-Ḥasan used to say: the blood-money of the Magian is eight hundred and the blood-money of the Jew and the Christian four thousand; but he said: their blood-money is one. Likewise — Ibn Bashshār related to us, saying: ʿAbd al-Raḥmān related to us, saying: Sufyān related to us, on the authority of Qays ibn Muslim, on the authority of al-Shaʿbī, he said: the blood-money of the covenanter and the Muslim are equal in their expiation. Likewise — Ibn Bashshār related to us, saying: ʿAbd al-Raḥmān related to us, saying: Sufyān related to us, on the authority of Manṣūr, on the authority of Ibrāhīm, he said: the blood-money of the covenanter and the Muslim are equal.
And others said: no, his blood-money is half the blood-money of the Muslim. Mention of who said that: 8037 - Ibn al-Muthannā related to us, saying: ʿAbd al-Aʿlā related to us, saying: Dāwūd related to us, on the authority of ʿAmr ibn Shuʿayb concerning the blood-money of the Jew and the Christian, he said: ʿUmar ibn al-Khaṭṭāb, may Allah be pleased with him, set it at half the blood-money of the Muslim, and the blood-money of the Magian at eight hundred. I said to ʿAmr ibn Shuʿayb: al-Ḥasan says: four thousand. He said: perhaps that was earlier; and he said: the blood-money of the Magian was set only at the position of a slave. 8038 - Abū Kurayb related to us, saying: ʿAbd Allāh al-Ashjaʿī related to us, on the authority of Sufyān, on the authority of Abū al-Zinād, on the authority of ʿUmar ibn ʿAbd al-ʿAzīz, he said: the blood-money of the covenanter is half the blood-money of the Muslim.
And others said: no, his blood-money is a third of the blood-money of the Muslim. Mention of who said that: 8039 - Wāṣil ibn ʿAbd al-Aʿlā related to me, saying: Ibn Fuḍayl related to us, on the authority of Muṭarrif, on the authority of Abū ʿUthmān — he said: he was a judge for the people of Marw — he said: ʿUmar, may Allah be pleased with him, set the blood-money of the Jew and the Christian at four thousand, four thousand. 8040 - ʿAmmār ibn Khālid al-Wāsiṭī related to us, saying: Yaḥyā ibn Saʿīd related to us, on the authority of al-Aʿmash, on the authority of Thābit, on the authority of Saʿīd ibn al-Musayyab, he said: ʿUmar said: the blood-money of the Christian is four thousand and that of the Magian eight hundred. Likewise — Muḥammad ibn al-Muthannā related to us, saying: ʿAbd al-Ṣamad related to us, saying: Shuʿba related to us, on the authority of Thābit, he said: I heard Saʿīd ibn al-Musayyab say: ʿUmar said: the blood-money of the People of the Book is four thousand, and the blood-money of the Magian eight hundred. Likewise — Ibn Bashshār related to us, saying: ʿAbd al-Raḥmān related to us, saying: Sufyān related to us, on the authority of Thābit, on the authority of Saʿīd ibn al-Musayyab, that ʿUmar ibn al-Khaṭṭāb, may Allah be pleased with him, said it, and he mentioned the like. 8041 - Ibn Bashshār related to us, saying: Ibn Abī ʿAdī related to us, on the authority of Saʿīd, on the authority of Qatāda, on the authority of Abū al-Malīḥ: that a man of his people shot a Jew or a Christian with an arrow and killed him; that was laid before ʿUmar ibn al-Khaṭṭāb, and he imposed upon him his blood-money of four thousand. Likewise — and with it, on the authority of Qatāda, on the authority of Saʿīd ibn al-Musayyab, he said: ʿUmar said: the blood-money of the Jew and the Christian is four thousand, four thousand. Likewise — Yaʿqūb ibn Ibrāhīm related to me, saying: Hushaym related to us, saying: our companions informed us, on the authority of Saʿīd ibn al-Musayyab, on the authority of ʿUmar, the same. 8042 - He said: Hushaym related to us, on the authority of Ibn Abī Laylā, on the authority of ʿAṭāʾ, on the authority of ʿUmar, the same. 8043 - He said: Hushaym related to us, saying: Yaḥyā ibn Saʿīd informed us, on the authority of Sulaymān ibn Yasār, that he said: the blood-money of the Jew and the Christian is four thousand, and that of the Magian eight hundred. 8044 - Sawwār ibn ʿAbd Allāh related to us, saying: Khālid ibn al-Ḥārith related to us, saying: ʿAbd al-Malik related to us, on the authority of ʿAṭāʾ, the same. 8045 - It was related to me on the authority of al-Ḥusayn ibn al-Faraj, he said: I heard Abū Muʿādh, he said: ʿUbayd related to us, he said: I heard al-Ḍaḥḥāk concerning His statement: and whoever does not find it, then the fasting of two consecutive months — the fasting is for whoever does not find a slave; and as for the blood-money, that is obligatory and nothing makes it lapse.
And whoever does not find it, then the fasting of two consecutive months, as repentance from Allah
The discourse on the interpretation of His statement: And whoever does not find it, then the fasting of two consecutive months, as repentance from Allah. The Exalted, whose mention is exalted, means by His statement And whoever does not find it, then the fasting of two consecutive months: and whoever does not find a believing slave to free as expiation for his error in killing a believer or a covenanter, on account of his inability to pay the price thereof, then the fasting of two consecutive months — He says: then upon him is the fasting of two consecutive months.
The interpreters differed about the interpretation thereof. Some of them said about that something in accordance with what we have said. Mention of who said that: 8046 - Muḥammad ibn ʿAmr related to me, saying: Abū ʿĀṣim related to us, on the authority of ʿĪsā, on the authority of Ibn Abī Najīḥ, on the authority of Mujāhid, concerning the statement of Allah: and whoever does not find it, then the fasting of two consecutive months — he said: whoever does not find a freeing — or a means of freeing, Abū ʿIṣām doubted — in killing a believer by mistake; and he said: it was revealed concerning ʿAyyāsh ibn Abī Rabīʿa, who killed a believer by mistake.
And others said: the fasting of the two months applies to both the blood-money and the slave. They said: and the interpretation of the verse is: whoever does not find a believing slave, nor a blood-money that he may deliver to his family, then upon him is the fasting of two consecutive months. Mention of who said that: 8047 - Al-Muthannā related to me, saying: Suwayd ibn Naṣr related to us, saying: Ibn al-Mubārak related to us, on the authority of Zakariyyā, on the authority of al-Shaʿbī, on the authority of Masrūq: that he was asked about the verse that is in sūrat al-Nisāʾ: and whoever does not find it, then the fasting of two consecutive months — is the fasting of the two months for the slave alone, or for the blood-money and the slave? He said: whoever does not find it, for him it is for the blood-money and the slave. Likewise — Ibn Wakīʿ related to us, saying: my father related to us, on the authority of Zakariyyā, on the authority of ʿĀmir, on the authority of Masrūq, with something similar.
Abū Jaʿfar said: The correct view about this is that the fasting comes in place of the slave and not in place of the blood-money, because the blood-money in killing by mistake rests upon the solidarity group of the killer, and the expiation upon the killer, on the basis of the consensus of the authoritative proof about that, transmitted from our Prophet ﷺ; for the fasting of a faster does not fulfill that which is imposed upon another in his property. And the consecutive is the fasting of the two months, which one does not interrupt by the breaking of some of its days, without an impediment that stands between him and his fasting. Then the Exalted, whose praise is exalted, said: as repentance from Allah, and Allah is All-Knowing, All-Wise — that is to say: as a pardon (tajāwuz) from Allah for you, as a relief for him through His relief for you of that which He has relieved for you of the obligation to free the believing slave, when you are not able to do so, by imposing upon you the fasting of two consecutive months.
and Allah is All-Knowing, All-Wise
And Allah is All-Knowing, All-Wise — He says: and Allah has ever been All-Knowing of that which is for the welfare of His servants in that which He imposes upon them of His obligations and other matters, All-Wise in that which He ordains among them and wills.
