Accepting diyah (blood money) instead of qisaas (retaliation) in the case of deliberate killing

 

Can diyah be accepted in the case of deliberate killing? Can the killer be set free?.

Praise be to Allaah.

Allaah, may He be exalted,
says (interpretation of the meaning): 

“O you who believe!
Al-Qisaas (the Law of Equality in punishment) is prescribed for you in case
of murder: the free for the free, the slave for the slave, and the female
for the female. But if the killer is forgiven by the brother (or the
relatives) of the killed against blood money, then adhering to it with
fairness and payment of the blood money to the heir should be made in
fairness. This is an alleviation and a mercy from your Lord. So after this
whoever transgresses the limits (i.e. kills the killer after taking the
blood money), he shall have a painful torment”

[al-Baqarah 2:178]. 

The great scholar ‘Abd
al-Rahmaan al-Sa’di said in his Tafseer: Allaah reminds His believing
slaves that He has enjoined qisaas upon them in the case of murder, i.e.,
there should be equal recompense in that, and that the killer should be
killed in the way in which he killed his victim, so as to establish justice
and fairness among people. End quote. 

Qisaas by killing the
killer can only be in cases of deliberate killing, according to scholarly
consensus. Ibn Qudaamah said in al-Mughni (8/214): The scholars are
unanimously agreed that qisaas is not required except in the case of
deliberate killing, and we do not know of any difference of opinion with
regard to qisaas being required for deliberate killing if all conditions are
met. This is indicated by the general meaning of the verses and reports.
Allaah says (interpretation of the meaning):  

“And whoever is killed
wrongfully (Mazlooman intentionally with hostility and oppression and not by
mistake), We have given his heir the authority [to demand Qisaas, __Law of
Equality in punishment __or to forgive, or to take Diyah (blood money)]. But
let him not exceed limits in the matter of taking life (i.e. he should not
kill except the killer)” [al-Isra’ 17:33] 

“Al-Qisaas (the Law of
Equality in punishment) is prescribed for you in case of murder”

[al-Baqarah 2:178] 

“And there is (a saving
of) life for you in Al-Qisaas”

[al-Baqarah 2:179] 

What is meant – and Allaah
knows best – is that the requirement of qisaas deters the one who wants to
kill from doing do, out of compassion towards himself so that he will not
killed, and so that the one whom he wanted to kill will remain alive. And it
was said that the killer would generate enmity between himself and the tribe
of the one whom he killed, so he wants to kill them for fear of them and
they want to kill him and his tribe in revenge. If he is executed as a
punishment according to sharee’ah, that will prevent the reason for fighting
between the two tribes. And Allaah says (interpretation of the meaning): 

“And We ordained therein
for them: Life for life, eye for eye”

[al-Maa’idah 5:45]. 

The Prophet (peace and
blessings of Allaah be upon him) said: “If a person’s relative is killed, he
has the choice of two options: either (the killer) may be killed or the
fidyah (ransom, blood money) may be paid.” Agreed upon. Abu Shurayh
al-Khuzaa’i said: The Messenger of Allaah (peace and blessings of
Allaah be upon him) said: “Whoever is killed or is wounded, has the choice
of three things, and if he wants the fourth then restrain him. He may kill
(the killer), or forgive him, or take the diyah (blood money). Narrated by
Abu Dawood. According to another version: “Whoever has a relative killed
after what I have said, his family has two options: to accept the diyah or
kill (the killer).” And he (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him)
said: “There is qisaas for deliberate killing, unless the heir of the slain
lets him off.” End quote. 

There was no difference of
opinion among the scholars that it is valid for the heirs of the victim to
forego qisaas and accept the diyah. This is what is indicated by the
ahaadeeth quoted above. 

In that case, the killer
may be set free and he should be obliged to pay the diyah. 

And Allaah knows best.

Now days we as Muslims have to spread the voice to learn quran and so we could gain the true knowledge and the quran teaching that is give to us by our beloved prophet Muhammad peace be upon him and do quran reading. Do we as Muslim ask our self that why we are at the peak of destruction? The answer will be simple that we have left our roots the holy quran we should guide promote Islam from in our homes first and let learn our kids quran  and encourage them in doing quran memorization this should be our first goal for it we can do different stuff like let then participate in different online quran recitation competition to let them listen quran from different online quran reciters and along with it we elders should learn quran also and improve our knowledge of quran and Islam and learn holy quran tafseer because to understand and learn quran Arabic and for this now a days there are many online quran tutor available who teach tajweed quran and its translation and tafseer so let us join our hands to be the voice of Islam and let improve the image of it as well and full fill our deputy