The Limits of Blood Money and Exaggeration in Demanding It
Machine translationRead the Arabic original
Question:
This man is asking about blood money (may Allah protect you). He says that blood money is a right belonging to the heirs of the murdered person, but what we see and hear now is that there is exaggeration in demanding it. What is the ruling on that? And are there limits to blood money?
Answer:
The blood money for accidental killing is fixed: one hundred camels of varying ages. Likewise, the blood money for intentional killing is one hundred camels or their value in every era according to its circumstances. The camels for intentional killing are to be of better quality, higher in value and age, than the camels for accidental killing. This is the principle regarding blood money: it is one hundred camels or the value of one hundred in every era according to its circumstances, and one should not exaggerate in that. Regarding the blood money for accidental killing and quasi-intentional killing, it is not possible to increase it beyond what Allah has specified. This applies only to the blood money for intentional killing, because the guardian of the victim in an intentional killing has the choice between forgiving for free and taking the blood money. Forgiving for free is better. But if he becomes stubborn and says, "No, I will not forgive except for such and such," then if the amount he demands is reasonable, there is no harm in that, because the right belongs to him. However, if the amount he demands is unreasonable, reaching ten million or more, yes.
The presenter:
May Allah reward you,
This man is asking about blood money (may Allah protect you). He says that blood money is a right belonging to the heirs of the murdered person, but what we see and hear now is that there is exaggeration in demanding it. What is the ruling on that? And are there limits to blood money?
Answer:
The blood money for accidental killing is fixed: one hundred camels of varying ages. Likewise, the blood money for intentional killing is one hundred camels or their value in every era according to its circumstances. The camels for intentional killing are to be of better quality, higher in value and age, than the camels for accidental killing. This is the principle regarding blood money: it is one hundred camels or the value of one hundred in every era according to its circumstances, and one should not exaggerate in that. Regarding the blood money for accidental killing and quasi-intentional killing, it is not possible to increase it beyond what Allah has specified. This applies only to the blood money for intentional killing, because the guardian of the victim in an intentional killing has the choice between forgiving for free and taking the blood money. Forgiving for free is better. But if he becomes stubborn and says, "No, I will not forgive except for such and such," then if the amount he demands is reasonable, there is no harm in that, because the right belongs to him. However, if the amount he demands is unreasonable, reaching ten million or more, yes.
The presenter:
May Allah reward you,
Source
نور على الدرب - الفوزان - 02/265 — archive.org (14:29)
The Arabic text is a machine transcription of the audio recording.