194]. And because the blood of the perpetrator is protected (ma'sum) except to the extent of his crime; thus, whatever exceeds that remains under protection, so it is prohibited to carry it out after the crime, just as it was prohibited before it. From the necessity of preventing the excess is the prevention of retaliation, because [the excess] is among its requirements; therefore, it is not possible to prevent the latter without preventing the former. There is no disagreement on this, to our knowledge. Among those who prohibited retaliation for anything less than a clear wound (mudihah) are al-Hasan, al-Shafi'i, Abu Ubayd, and the jurists (ashab al-ra'y). It was also prohibited for bones by Umar ibn Abd al-Aziz, 'Ata', al-Nakha'i, al-Zuhri, al-Hakam, Ibn Shubruma, al-Thawri, al-Shafi'i, and the jurists. Once this is established, the wound for which it is possible to carry out retaliation without excess is any wound that reaches the bone, such as the mudihah on the head and face. We know of no disagreement regarding the permissibility of retaliation for the mudihah, which is every wound that reaches the bone on the head and face. This is because Allah the Almighty stipulated retaliation for wounds, and if it were not obligated here, the ruling of the verse would be void. In the meaning of the mudihah is every wound that reaches the bone in areas other than the head and face, such as the forearm, the upper arm, the lower leg, and the thigh, according to the opinion of most scholars. This is what was explicitly stated by al-Shafi'i. Some of his companions said: There is no retaliation for them because there is no [fixed] estimation for them. This is not correct, due to the saying of Allah the Almighty: {And wounds are [subject to] legal retribution}. Moreover, it is possible to carry it out without injustice or excess because it reaches the bone, so it is like the mudihah. The estimation in the mudihah is not what necessitates retaliation, nor is the absence of it an impediment. Rather, the estimation in the mudihah is due to the severity of its disfigurement and the nobility of its location; this is why wounds of the head and face above that level were estimated [with blood-money], for which there is no retaliation. Likewise, the deep abdominal wound (ja'ifah) has its compensation estimated, and there is no retaliation for it.

Section: Retaliation for injuries below the level of life is not carried out with a sword or any tool from which it is feared that...