and for the people of cattle, two hundred cattle; and for the people of sheep, two thousand sheep; and for the people of garments (hullal), two hundred garments. Recorded by Abu Dawud. As for us, we rely on the statement of the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him): "Indeed, for the killing of intentional-accidental homicide, the killing with a whip or a stick, there is one hundred camels." And because the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) differentiated between the blood money for intentional homicide and accidental homicide, making some of it heavier and some of it lighter, and this does not apply to [anything] other than camels. And because it is a substitute for something destroyed that is a right of a human being, it was therefore fixed, like the compensation for property. The hadith of Ibn 'Abbas allows for the possibility that the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) mandated silver as a substitute for camels, and the disagreement lies in whether it is considered a root (asl) [foundation]. The hadith of 'Amr ibn Shu'ayb indicates that the root is camels, and that his mandating these mentioned items was by way of assessment due to the high price of camels. If they were roots in themselves, their mandate would not be an assessment of camels, nor would the high price of camels have any effect on that, nor would his mentioning it have any meaning. It has been narrated that he used to assess camels before they became expensive at eight thousand dirhams; for this reason, it is said that the blood money for a dhimmi (protected non-Muslim) is four thousand dirhams, and his blood money is half the blood money [of a Muslim], so it was four thousand when the blood money was eight thousand dirhams.
Section: When we say that there are five roots, their quantity in gold is one thousand mithqals, and in silver (wariq) it is twelve thousand dirhams, and in cattle and garments it is two hundred, and in sheep it is two thousand. Those who uphold these roots did not disagree regarding their quantities in gold or any other [category] except for silver; for al-Thawri, Abu Hanifa, and his two companions said: Its quantity is ten thousand of silver. This was also narrated from Ibn Shubruma, due to what al-Sha'bi narrated, that 'Umar fixed it at ten thousand for the people of silver.
(8) In: "The Chapter on How Much the Blood Money Is," from the Book of Blood Money, Sunan Abi Dawud 2/491. It was also recorded by al-Bayhaqi in: "The Chapter on the Scarcity of Camels," from the Book of Blood Money, Al-Sunan al-Kubra 8/77. (9) Its attribution was previously mentioned on 6/240. (10) Omitted from the original (al-Asl). (11) See 4/45, 6/240, 11/595. (12) In the original, A, and M: "Then" (fa-in). (13) In the original: "One thousand." (14) Omitted from the original (al-Asl) and B. (15) In M: "Two thousand" (alfan).
