In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful.
The Book of Blood Money (Kitab al-Diyat)
The foundational evidence for the obligation of blood money (diyah) is the Book (Quran), the Sunnah, and consensus (ijma'). As for the Book, it is the saying of Allah, the Exalted: "And whoever kills a believer by mistake—then the freeing of a believing slave and a blood money payment delivered to his family, unless they give [it as] charity." [Surah An-Nisa, 92].
As for the Sunnah, Abu Bakr ibn Muhammad ibn 'Amr ibn Hazm reported that the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) wrote a letter to 'Amr ibn Hazm directed to the people of Yemen, which contained information regarding obligatory charities (fara'id), prophetic practices (sunan), and blood money (diyat). In it, he stated: "And indeed, for a life, there is one hundred camels." This was recorded by al-Nasa'i in his "Sunan" and by Malik in his "Muwatta". Ibn 'Abd al-Barr stated: "It is a famous letter among the scholars of history, known among the scholars [of jurisprudence] with a knowledge whose fame makes it independent of a chain of narration, because it resembles the status of mutawatir (widely transmitted) reports, due to its arrival through many hadiths." This will be addressed in its appropriate places within this chapter, if Allah wills. The scholars have reached a consensus on the obligation of blood money in general.
(1) Surah An-Nisa: 92. (2) Recorded by al-Nasa'i in: "The Chapter on Mentioning the Hadith of 'Amr ibn Hazm concerning Blood Money," from the Book of Qasama (Oath-taking regarding homicide), Al-Mujtaba 8/52. It was also recorded by Imam Malik in: "The Chapter on Mentioning Blood Money," from the Book of Blood Money, Al-Muwatta 2/849. It was likewise recorded by al-Darimi in: "The Chapter on How Much the Blood Money is in Camels," from the Book of Blood Money, Sunan al-Darimi 2/193; by al-Hakim in the Book of Zakat, Al-Mustadrak 1/397; and by al-Bayhaqi in: "The Chapter on the Blood Money for a Life" and "The Chapter on the Blood Money for the Protected People (Dhimmi)," from the Book of Blood Money, Al-Sunan al-Kubra 8/73, 100. (3) In [manuscript] B: "The Sunan." (4) In [manuscript] M: "And known." (5) In [manuscript] M: "The mutawatir (widely transmitted)."
