4. Sūrat al-Nisāʾ

٤۔ سُورَةُ النِّسَاء

Qurʾān > Chapter 4 > Section 42
القرآن > كتاب ٤ > باب ٤٢

4.42 The punishment for killing a believer and laws of bloodwit.

٤۔٤٢ مقطع في سُورَةُ النِّسَاء

quran: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.  

It is not for a believer to slay a believer, in other words, no such slaying should result at his hands, except by mistake, killing him by mistake, unintentionally. He who slays a believer by mistake, when he meant to strike some other thing, as in the case of hunting or ˹shooting at˺ trees, but then happens to strike him with what in most cases would not kill, then let him set free, let him emancipate, a believing slave (raqaba denotes nasama, ‘a person’), an obligation on him, and blood-money is to be submitted, to be paid, to his family, that is, the slain person’s inheritors, unless they remit it as a charity, to him by waiving ˹their claim to˺ it. In the Sunna this ˹blood-money˺ is explained as being equivalent to one hundred camels: twenty pregnant, twenty female sucklings, twenty male sucklings, twenty mature ones and twenty young ones ˹not more than five years old˺; and ˹the Sunna stipulates˺ that it is incumbent upon the killer’s clan, namely, his paternal relations ˹and not other relatives˺. They share this ˹burden of the blood-money˺ over three years; the rich among them pays half a dinar, while the one of moderate means ˹pays˺ a quarter of a dinar each year; if they still cannot meet this, then it can be taken from the treasury, and if this is not possible, then from the killer himself. If he, the slain, belongs to a people at enmity, at war, with you and is a believer, then the setting free of a believing slave, is incumbent upon the slayer, as a redemption, but no bloodmoney is to be paid to his family, since they are at war ˹with you˺. If he, the slain, belongs to a people between whom and you there is a covenant, a treaty, as is the case with the Protected People (ahl al-dhimma), then the blood-money, for him, must be paid to his family, and it constitutes a third of the blood-money for a believer, if the slain be a Jew or a Christian, and two thirds of a tenth of it, if he be a Magian; and the setting free of a believing slave, is incumbent upon the slayer. But if he has not the wherewithal, for ˹setting free˺ a slave, failing to find one, or the means to obtain one, then the fasting of two successive months, is incumbent upon him as a redemption: here God does not mention the transition to ˹an alternative to fasting which is˺ giving food ˹to the needy˺, as in the case of ˹repudiating one’s wife by˺ zihār, something which alShāfi‘ī advocates in the more correct of two opinions of his; a relenting from God (tawbatan, ‘relenting’, is the verbal noun, and is in the accusative because of the implied verb). And God is ever Knowing, of His creation, Wise, in what He has ordained for them.
القرآن:٤:٩٢ –

وَمَا كَانَ لِمُؤْمِنٍ أَنْ يَقْتُلَ مُؤْمِنًا إِلَّا خَطَأً ۚ وَمَنْ قَتَلَ مُؤْمِنًا خَطَأً فَتَحْرِيرُ رَقَبَةٍ مُؤْمِنَةٍ وَدِيَةٌ مُسَلَّمَةٌ إِلَىٰ أَهْلِهِ إِلَّا أَنْ يَصَّدَّقُوا ۚ فَإِنْ كَانَ مِنْ قَوْمٍ عَدُوٍّ لَكُمْ وَهُوَ مُؤْمِنٌ فَتَحْرِيرُ رَقَبَةٍ مُؤْمِنَةٍ ۖ وَإِنْ كَانَ مِنْ قَوْمٍ بَيْنَكُمْ وَبَيْنَهُمْ مِيثَاقٌ فَدِيَةٌ مُسَلَّمَةٌ إِلَىٰ أَهْلِهِ وَتَحْرِيرُ رَقَبَةٍ مُؤْمِنَةٍ ۖ فَمَنْ لَمْ يَجِدْ فَصِيَامُ شَهْرَيْنِ مُتَتَابِعَيْنِ تَوْبَةً مِنَ اللَّهِ ۗ وَكَانَ اللَّهُ عَلِيمًا حَكِيمًا  

{وما كان لمؤمن أن يقتل مؤمنا} أي ما ينبغي أن يصدر منه قتل له {إلا خطئا} مخطئا في قتله من غير قصد {ومن قتل مؤمنا خطأ} بأن قصد رمي غيره كصيد أو شجرة فأصابه أو ضربه بما لا يقتل غالبا {فتحرير} عتق {رقبة} نسمة {مؤمنة} عليه {ودية مسلمة} مؤداة {إلى أهله} أي ورثة المقتول {إلا أن يصَّدقوا} يتصدقوا عليه بها بأن يعفوا عنها وبينت السنة أنها مائة من الإبل عشرون بنت مخاض وكذا بنات لبون وبنو لبون، وحقاق وجذاع وأنها على عاقلة القاتل وهم عصبته إلا الأصل والفرع موزعة عليهم على ثلاث سنين على الغني منهم نصف دينار والمتوسط ربع كل سنة فان لم يفوا فمن بيت المال فإن تعذر فعلى الجاني {فإن كان} المقتول {من قوم عدوٌ} حرب {لكم وهو مؤمن فتحرير رقبة مؤمنة} على قاتله كفارة ولا دية تسلم إلى أهله لحرابتهم {وإن كان} المقتول {من قوم بينكم وبينهم ميثاق} عهد كأهل الذمة {فدية} له {مسلَّمة إلى أهله} وهي ثلث دية المؤمن إن كان يهوديا أو نصرانيا وثلثا عشرها إن كان مجوسيا {وتحرير رقبة مؤمنة} على قاتله {فمن لم يجد} الرقبة بأن فقدها وما يحصلها به {فصيام شهرين متتابعين} عليه كفارة ولم يذكر الله تعالى الانتقال إلى الطعام كالظهار وبه أخذ الشافعي في أصح قوليه {توبة من اللهِ} مصدر منصوب بفعله المقدر {وكان الله عليما} بخلقه {حكيما} فيما دبره لهم.
quran:4:93 –

But whoever kills a believer intentionally - his recompense is Hell, wherein he will abide eternally, and Allah has become angry with him and has cursed him and has prepared for him a great punishment.  

And whoever slays a believer deliberately, intending to kill him, with something that is lethal, aware of the fact that he ˹the slain˺ is a believer, his requital is Hell, abiding therein, and God is wroth with him and has cursed him, He has removed him from His mercy, and has prepared for him a mighty chastisement, in the Fire: this may be explained as ˹referring to˺ the person that deems such ˹killing˺ licit, or as being his requital if he were to be requited, but it would not be anything new if this threat ˹of punishment˺ were to be forgone, because of what He says: Other than that ˹that is, idolatry˺ He forgives whomever He will ˹Q. 4:48˺. It is reported from Ibn ‘Abbās that it ˹the verse˺ should be understood as it stands, abrogating other verses of ‘forgiveness’. The verse in ˹sūrat˺ al-Baqara ˹Q. 2:178˺ clearly indicates that the one who kills deliberately should be killed in return, or if he is pardoned then he has to pay the blood-money, the value of which has already been mentioned. It is made clear in the Sunna that between the intentional and the unintentional, there is a type of killing that is identified as ˹being with˺ quasi-deliberate intent (shibh al‘amd), where the killer has slain with what in most cases is not ˹a˺ lethal ˹implement˺. In such a case, there is no ˹right to˺ retaliation and blood-money is paid instead, so that it ˹this type of killing˺ is described as intentional, but ˹considered˺ unintentional in ˹that there applies˺ the fixing of the period ˹for payment˺ and the sharing of the burden ˹by the killer’s clan˺; in this ˹case˺ and that of intentional killing redemption is more urgent than in unintentional killing.
القرآن:٤:٩٣ –

وَمَنْ يَقْتُلْ مُؤْمِنًا مُتَعَمِّدًا فَجَزَاؤُهُ جَهَنَّمُ خَالِدًا فِيهَا وَغَضِبَ اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَلَعَنَهُ وَأَعَدَّ لَهُ عَذَابًا عَظِيمًا  

{ومن يقتل مؤمنا متعمِّدا} بأن يقصد قتله بما يقتل غالبا عالما بإيمانه {فجزاؤه جهنم خالدا فيها وغضب الله عليه ولعنه} أبعده من رحمته {وأعد له عذابا عظيما} في النار وهذا مؤوَّل بمن يستحله أو بأن هذا جزاؤه إن جُوزي ولا يدفع في خلف الوعيد لقوله (ويغفر ما دون ذلك لمن يشاء) وعن ابن عباس أنها على ظاهرها وأنها ناسخة لغيرها من آيات المغفرة وبينت آية البقرة أن قاتل العمد يقتل به وأن عليه الدية إن عفي عنه وسبق قدرها وبينت السنة أن بين العمد والخطأ قتلا يسمى شبه العمد وهو أن يقتله بما لا يقتل غالبا فلا قصاص فيه بل دية كالعمد في الصفة والخطأ في التأجيل والحمل وهو والعمد أولى بالكفارة من الخطأ.