“Woe to you! Would you kill two hundred people for four men? Come and I will judge between you, if you accept it (all well and good), otherwise refer the matter to the Prophet ﷺ.” He ruled that one quarter of the diyah should be given for the first one, one third of the diyah for the second one, half of the diyah for the third one and the complete diyah for the fourth one. Some of them accepted it and some of them did not like it. And he imposed the diyah on the tribes of the people who had crowded one another in that place. So they referred the matter to the Prophet ﷺ. Bahz said: Hammad said: I think he said: He was reclining, then he sat up and said: “I shall judge between you.” Then he was told that ‘Ali ؓ had issued such and such a verdict, and he approved of it, ʿAffan said: ʿI shall judge between you.”  

أَنَّ عَلِيًّا كَانَ بِالْيَمَنِ فَاحْتَفَرُوا زُبْيَةً لِلأسَدِ فَجَاءَ حَتَّى وَقَعَ فِيهَارَجُلٌ وَتَعَلَّقَ بِآخَرَ وَتَعَلَّقَ الْآخَرُ بِآخَرَ وَتَعَلَّقَ الْآخَرُ بِآخَرَ حَتَّى صَارُوا أَرْبَعَةً فَجَرَحَهُمِ الْأَسَدُ فِيهَا فَمِنْهُمْ مَنْ مَاتَ فِيهَا وَمِنْهُمْ مَنِ أخْرِجَ فَمَاتَ قَالَ فَتَنَازَعُوا فِي ذَلِكَ حَتَّى أَخَذُوا السِّلاحَ قَالَ فَأَتَاهُمْ عَلِيٌّ فَقَالَ وَيْلَكُمْ تَقْتُلُونَ مِائَتَيِ إنْسَانٍ فِي شَأْنِ أَرْبَعَةِ أَنَاسِيَّ تَعَالَوْا أَقْضِ بَيْنَكُمْ بِقَضَاءٍ فَإِنْ رَضِيتُمْ بِهِ وَإِلا فَارْتَفِعُوا إِلَى النَّبِيِّ ﷺ قَالَ فَقَضَى لِلأوَّلِ رُبُعَ دِيَتِهٍ وَلِلثَّانِي ثُلُثَ دِِيَتِهِ وَلِلثَّالِثِ نِصْفَ دِيَتِهِ وَلِلرَّابِعِ الدِّيَةُ كَامِلَةً قَالَ فَرَضِيَ بَعْضُهُمْ وَكَرِهَ بَعْضُهُمْ وَجَعَلَ الدِّيَةَ عَلَى قَبَائِلِ الَّذِينَ ازْدَحَمُوا قَالَ فَارْتَفَعُوا إِلَى النَّبِيِّ ﷺ قَالَ بَهْزٌ قَالَ حَمَّادٌ أَحْسَبُهُ قَالَ كَانَ مُتَّكِئًا فَاحْتَبَى قَالَ سَأَقْضِي بَيْنَكُمْ بِقَضَاءٍ قَالَ فَأُخْبِرَ أَنَّ عَلِيًّا قَضَى بِكَذَا وَكَذَا قَالَ فَأَمْضَى قَضَاءَهُ قَالَ عَفَّانُ سَأَقْضِي بَيْنَكُمْ  

The Messenger of Allah ﷺ sent me to Yemen, and we came to some people who had built a trap for a lion. They began to push one another, and one man fell, so he grabbed onto another one, who then grabbed onto another one, until all four of them ended up in the trap and the lion wounded them. Then a man came and killed the lion with a spear, and they all died of their wounds, The next of kin of the first man went to the next of kin of the last man, and they took out weapons to fight, then ʿAli came to them straight away and said: Do you want to fight one another when the Messenger of Allah ﷺ is still alive? I will judge between you, and if you agree then that is the verdict, otherwise keep away from one another until you go to the Prophet ﷺ and he will be the one who judges between you, then whoever transgresses after that will have no right. Collect from the tribes of those who fell into the hole one quarter of the diyah [blood money], one third of the diyah, one half of the diyah and a complete diyah. For the first man (who fell in) there will be one quarter, because he caused the death of the one who came after him; for the second one there is one third of the diyah; and for the third one there is half of the diyah. They refused to accept that, so they went to the Prophet ﷺ when he was at Maqam Ibraheem and told him the story, and he said: “I will judge between you.” One of the people said: ʿAli has already passed judgement. They told him about it and the Messenger of Allah ﷺ approved it. It was narrated from Hanash that ʿAli ؓ said: The fourth one gets the diyah (blood money] in full.  

بَعَثَنِي رَسُولُ اللهِ ﷺ إِلَى الْيَمَنِ فَانْتَهَيْنَا إِلَى قَوْمٍ قَدْ بَنَوْا زُبْيَةً لِلْأَسَدِ فَبَيْنَا هُمْ كَذَلِكَ يَتَدَافَعُونَ إِذْ سَقَطَ رَجُلٌ فَتَعَلَّقَ بِآخَرَ ثُمَّ تَعَلَّقَ رَجُلٌ بِآخَرَ حَتَّى صَارُوا فِيهَا أَرْبَعَةً فَجَرَحَهُمِ الْأَسَدُ فَانْتَدَبَ لَهُ رَجُلٌ بِحَرْبَةٍ فَقَتَلَهُ وَمَاتُوا مِنْ جِرَاحَتِهِمْ كُلُّهُمْ فَقَامَ أَوْلِيَاءُ الْأَوَّلِ إِلَى أَوْلِيَاءِ الْآخِرِ فَأَخْرَجُوا السِّلاحَ لِيَقْتَتِلُوا فَأَتَاهُمْ عَلِيٌّ عَلَى تَفِيئَةِ ذَلِكَ فَقَالَ تُرِيدُونَ أَنْ تَقَاتَلُوا وَرَسُولُ اللهِ ﷺ حَيٌّ؟ إِنِّي أَقْضِي بَيْنَكُمْ قَضَاءً إِنْ رَضِيتُمْ فَهُوَ الْقَضَاءُ وَإِلا حَجَزَ بَعْضُكُمْ عَنْ بَعْضٍ حَتَّى تَأْتُوا النَّبِيَّ ﷺ فَيَكُونَ هُوَ الَّذِي يَقْضِي بَيْنَكُمْ فَمَنْ عَدَا بَعْدَ ذَلِكَ فَلا حَقَّ لَهُ اجْمَعُوا مِنْ قَبَائِلِ الَّذِينَ حَضَرُوا الْبِئْرَ رُبُعَ الدِّيَةِ وَثُلُثَ الدِّيَةِ وَنِصْفَ الدِّيَةِ وَالدِّيَةَ كَامِلَةً فَلِلْأَوَّلِ الرُّبُعُ لِأَنَّهُ هَلَكَ مَنْ فَوْقَهُ وَلِلثَّانِي ثُلُثُ الدِّيَةِ وَلِلثَّالِثِ نِصْفُ الدِّيَةِ فَأَبَوْا أَنْ يَرْضَوْا فَأَتَوْا النَّبِيَّ ﷺ وَهُوَ عِنْدَ مَقَامِ إِبْرَاهِيمَ فَقَصُّوا عَلَيْهِ الْقِصَّةَ فَقَالَ أَنَا أَقْضِي بَيْنَكُمْ واحْتَبَى فَقَالَ رَجُلٌ مِنَ الْقَوْمِ إِنَّ عَلِيًّا قَضَى فِينَا فَقَصُّوا عَلَيْهِ الْقِصَّةَ فَأَجَازَهُ رَسُولُ اللهِ ﷺ  

[Machine] "When the Messenger of Allah ﷺ sent me to Yemen, a group of people dug a pit for the lion, and the people crowded around the pit. A man fell into it and another man held onto him, and the others held onto one another until there were four of them. The lion injured them in the pit and they all perished. The people then took up arms and almost fought amongst themselves. I came to them and said, 'Are you willing to kill two hundred men for the sake of four individuals? Come, let me decide between you through a just judgment. If you agree to it, it will be a fair judgment between you. But if you refuse, I will refer the matter to the Messenger of Allah ﷺ , who is the most rightful to judge.' So, I decided that the owner of the pit should pay one-fourth of the blood money (diyah) for the first person, one-third for the second person, half for the third person, and the full blood money for the fourth person. The blood money was to be paid by those present at the pit, from the four different tribes. Some of them were displeased, while others were satisfied. Then they all came to the Messenger of Allah ﷺ and narrated the story to him. He said, 'I will decide between you,' and then a person said, 'Ali has already judged between us.' The Messenger of Allah ﷺ was informed about Ali's judgment, and he said, 'The judgment is as Ali has judged.' This narration is from Hammad, and Qays also reported it. The Messenger of Allah ﷺ confirmed Ali's judgment."  

لَمَّا بَعَثَنِي رَسُولُ اللهِ ﷺ إِلَى الْيَمَنِ حَفَرَ قَوْمٌ زُبْيَةً لِلْأَسَدِ فَازْدَحَمَ النَّاسُ عَلَى الزُّبْيَةِ وَوَقَعَ فِيهَا الْأَسَدُ فَوَقَعَ فِيهَا رَجُلٌ وَتَعَلَّقَ بِرَجُلٍ وَتَعَلَّقَ الْآخَرُ بِآخَرَ حَتَّى صَارُوا أَرْبَعَةً فَجَرَحَهُمُ الْأَسَدُ فِيهَا فَهَلَكُوا وَحَمَلَ الْقَوْمُ السِّلَاحَ فَكَادَ أَنْ يَكُونَ بَيْنَهُمْ قِتَالٌ قَالَ فَأَتَيْتُهُمْ فَقُلْتُ أَتَقْتُلُونَ مِائَتَيْ رَجُلٍ مِنْ أَجْلِ أَرْبَعَةِ أُنَاسٍ تَعَالَوْا أَقْضِ بَيْنَكُمْ بِقَضَاءٍ فَإِنْ رَضِيتُمُوهُ فَهُوَ قَضَاءٌ بَيْنَكُمْ وَإِنْ أَبَيْتُمْ رَفَعْتُمْ إِلَى رَسُولِ اللهِ ﷺ وَهُوَ أَحَقُّ بِالْقَضَاءِ قَالَ فَجَعَلَ لِلْأَوَّلِ رُبُعَ الدِّيَةِ وَجَعَلَ لِلثَّانِي ثُلُثَ الدِّيَةِ وَجَعَلَ لِلثَّالِثِ نِصْفَ الدِّيَةِ وَجَعَلَ لِلرَّابِعِ الدِّيَةَ وَجَعَلَ الدِّيَاتِ عَلَى مَنْ حَضَرَ الزُّبْيَةَ عَلَى الْقَبَائِلِ الْأَرْبَعَةِ فَسَخِطَ بَعْضُهُمْ وَرَضِيَ بَعْضُهُمْ ثُمَّ قَدِمُوا عَلَى رَسُولِ اللهِ ﷺ فَقَصُّوا عَلَيْهِ الْقِصَّةَ فَقَالَ أَنَا أَقْضِي بَيْنَكُمْ فَقَالَ قَائِلٌ فَإِنَّ عَلِيًّا ؓ قَدْ قَضَى بَيْنَنَا فَأَخْبَرَهُ بِمَا قَضَى عَلِيٌّ ؓ فَقَالَ رَسُولُ اللهِ ﷺ الْقَضَاءُ كَمَا يَقْضِي عَلِيٌّ قَالَ هَذَا حَمَّادٌ وَقَالَ قَيْسٌ فَأَمْضَى رَسُولُ اللهِ ﷺ قَضَاءَ عَلِيٍّ ؓ