Homicide and murder - Encyclopaedia of Islam, THREE
[Article]
Peters, Rudolph
Leiden
Brill
(2,601 words)
In Islamic law homicide is an offence that must be prosecuted by the victim's next of kin, who therefore control the proceedings of the trial. For wilful homicide they may demand the culprit's death as retaliation (qiṣāṣ) , although they may also pardon him and, according to some schools, may do so in exchange for payment (blood-money). If the homicide was accidental, the next of kin are entitled to blood money (diya, ʿaql) from the perpetrator. Murder , i.e., premeditated homicide, is not a legal category in the