Is a bequest to not forgive the killer binding?
Machine translationRead the Arabic original
Praise be to Allah alone, and blessings and peace be upon the one after whom there is no prophet. After that:
The Permanent Committee for Scholarly Research and Ifta has reviewed what was sent to His Eminence the Grand Mufti from the questioner: His Excellency the Head of the al-Tawwal Center, in his letter number (526) dated 25/2/1432 AH, which was referred to the Committee by the General Secretariat of the Council of Senior Scholars with number (527) and date 16/4/1432 AH, containing a request for a ruling on the following issue: I am an elderly woman with five siblings, three women and two men, and I am the eldest of them. We have a brother who was killed, and my mother, while on her deathbed, bequeathed to me not to forgive the killer of my brother, stating that she would curse us in this world and the Hereafter if we forgave him. Now, after my mother’s death, we have considered forgiving the killer of my brother, but I have my mother’s bequest not to forgive. Do I have to follow my mother’s bequest, or follow what I have considered? I hope for a ruling on this bequest. May Allah reward you with good.
After studying the question, the Committee answered that it is permissible for the heirs of the blood to forgive the right of retaliation, either with compensation or without it, due to the generality of the saying of Allah the Exalted:[Al-Baqarah 2:178], and from Anas ibn Malik (may Allah be pleased with him): . It was narrated by the Imam Ahmad in the Musnad, and Abu Dawud and al-Nasa'i and Ibn Majah, and al-Bayhaqi in al-Sunan al-Kubra. The bequest of the mother of the killed person not to forgive the right of retaliation is not binding on the heirs of the blood; because that prevents the owner of the right from disposing of it by forgiveness, and it is contrary to what the Shari'ah encourages, which is forgiving the right of retaliation. Therefore, if some of the heirs or all of them wish to forgive the right of retaliation, they have that right.
The Permanent Committee for Scholarly Research and Ifta has reviewed what was sent to His Eminence the Grand Mufti from the questioner: His Excellency the Head of the al-Tawwal Center, in his letter number (526) dated 25/2/1432 AH, which was referred to the Committee by the General Secretariat of the Council of Senior Scholars with number (527) and date 16/4/1432 AH, containing a request for a ruling on the following issue: I am an elderly woman with five siblings, three women and two men, and I am the eldest of them. We have a brother who was killed, and my mother, while on her deathbed, bequeathed to me not to forgive the killer of my brother, stating that she would curse us in this world and the Hereafter if we forgave him. Now, after my mother’s death, we have considered forgiving the killer of my brother, but I have my mother’s bequest not to forgive. Do I have to follow my mother’s bequest, or follow what I have considered? I hope for a ruling on this bequest. May Allah reward you with good.
After studying the question, the Committee answered that it is permissible for the heirs of the blood to forgive the right of retaliation, either with compensation or without it, due to the generality of the saying of Allah the Exalted:
O you who have believed, prescribed for you is legal retribution for those murdered - the free for the free, the slave for the slave, and the female for the female. But whoever overlooks from his brother anything, then there should be a suitable follow-up and payment to him with good conduct. This is an alleviation from your Lord and a mercy. But whoever transgresses after that will have a painful punishment.
يَا أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا كُتِبَ عَلَيْكُمُ الْقِصَاصُ فِي الْقَتْلَى الْحُرُّ بِالْحُرِّ وَالْعَبْدُ بِالْعَبْدِ وَالأُنْثَى بِالأُنْثَى فَمَنْ عُفِيَ لَهُ مِنْ أَخِيهِ شَيْءٌ فَاتِّبَاعٌ بِالْمَعْرُوفِ وَأَدَاءٌ إِلَيْهِ بِإِحْسَانٍ ذَلِكَ تَخْفِيفٌ مِنْ رَبِّكُمْ وَرَحْمَةٌ فَمَنِ اعْتَدَى بَعْدَ ذَلِكَ فَلَهُ عَذَابٌ أَلِيمٌThat the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) was never brought a case of retaliation except that he ordered forgiveness.
أن رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم لم يرفع إليه قصاص قط إلا أمر بالعفو
Source
www.alifta.gov.sa
The Arabic text is copied verbatim from the original source, without any edits.