Qisas

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This is a sub-article of Islamic criminal jurisprudence and Blood money (term).

Qisas (Arabic: قصاص) is a Islamic term meaning money paid as a fine to the next of kin of somebody who was intentionally killed. It literally means "equal" or "balanced". Diyat or Diyya (Arabic: ديت) is a similar payment for someone who was unintentionally killed.

Islam has not prescribed any specific amount for Diyat nor has it obligated to discriminate in this matter between a man or a woman, a slave or a free man and a Muslim or a non-Muslim. Its quantity, nature and other related affairs have been left by the Qur’an upon the customs and traditions of a society.[1]

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[edit] Islamic and Arab tradition

The law of Diyat was in force in Arabia before the advent of Islam. The Qur’an directed to pay Diyat just according to this law both in case of intentional as well as un-intentional murder.[1] In Islamic and Arab traditions, blood money is the fine paid by the killer or his family or clan to the family or the clan of the victim (compare weregild and główczyzna). It is unlawful for a believer to kill a believer except if it happens by accident. And he who kills a believer accidentally must pay Diyat to the heirs of the victim except if they forgive him. The tradition finds repeated endorsement in Islamic tradition; several instances are recorded in the Hadith, which are the acts of the Prophet Muhammad.

[edit] Legally prescribed rates

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The Blood-Money tradition has found its way into legislation in several Islamic countries, including Saudi Arabia, Iran and Pakistan.[citation needed] Some of these countries also define, by lawful legislation, a hierarchy of rates for the lives of people; religious affiliation and gender are usually the main modulating factors for these Blood Money rates. Some examples are presented below.

[edit] Saudi Arabia

In Saudi Arabia, when a person has been killed or caused to die by another, the prescribed blood money rates are as follows[citation needed]:

  • 100,000 riyals if the victim is a Muslim man
  • 50,000 riyals if a Muslim woman
  • 50,000 riyals if a Christian man
  • 25,000 riyals if a Christian woman
  • 6,666 riyals if a Hindu man
  • 3,333 riyals if a Hindu woman.

Blood money is to be paid not only for murder, but also in case of unnatural death, interpreted to mean death in a fire, industrial or road accident, for instance.[citation needed]

[edit] Iran

In Iran, a further refinement on the hierarchy of rates has been devised: variations are also based on the month of the Islamic calendar that the crime is committed in. The Iraninan Judiciary system announces a table of the prescribed amounts each year.[citation needed] During the four haraam months, when wars and killings were traditionally discouraged in the Arabian peninsula and later in the larger Islamic world, the blood money rates stand doubled.[citation needed] The rates for female victims is half that for male victims. [citation needed]

As in Saudi Arabia, the rates for bloody crimes committed against Iranian non-muslims used to be half the rate prescribed for muslim victims, but this was changed by "equitable", progressive-minded legislation in early 2004.[citation needed] This legislation was initially rejected by the Guardian Council but was later approved by the Expediency Discernment Council.[citation needed]

[edit] Iraq

In Iraq, the Bedouin tribes carry on the practice of demanding blood money, though this does not necessarily obviate the proceedings of the secular judicial system.[2]

[edit] References

  1. ^ a b Javed Ahmed Ghamidi, The Penal Law of Islam, Renaissance, Al-Mawrid Institute, Vol. 12, No. 9, September 2002.[1]
  2. ^ "Blood Money and Iraqi Tribal Justice" by Jamie Tarabay. Weekend Edition Saturday, 9 Dec 2006. National Public Radio. http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=6602545

[edit] External links

Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org../../../q/i/s/Qisas.html"