Arabian Society in the Middle Ages: Studies From The Thousand and One Nights — John Shaqi
Arabian Society in the Middle Ages: Studies From The Thousand and One NightsLane, Edward William
Islamic
Arabian Society in the Middle Ages: Studies From The Thousand and One Nights
Lane, Edward William
Arabian nights; Egypt -- Social life and customs; Islamic Empire -- Social life and customs; Social history -- Medieval, 500-1500
The Ḳur-án ordains that murder shall be punished with death; or,
rather, that the free shall die for the free, the slave for the slave,
and the woman for the woman;[15] or that the perpetrator of the crime
shall pay, to the heirs of the person whom he has killed, if they will
allow it, a fine, which is to be divided according to the laws of
inheritance already explained. It also ordains that unintentional
homicide shall be expiated by freeing a believer from slavery, and
paying a fine to the family of the person killed, unless they remit it.
But these laws are amplified and explained by the same book and by the
Imáms. A fine is not to be accepted for murder unless the crime has been
attended by some palliating circumstance. This fine, the price of blood,
is a hundred camels; or a thousand deenárs (about £500) from him who
possesses gold; or, from him who possesses silver, twelve thousand
dirhems (about £300). This is for killing a free man; for a woman, half
that sum; for a slave, his or her value, but this must fall short of the
price of blood for the free. A person unable to free a believer must
fast two months as in Ramaḍán. The accomplices of a murderer are
liable to the punishment of death. By the Sunneh (or Traditions of the
Prophet) also, a man is obnoxious to capital punishment for the murder
of a woman; and by the Ḥanafee law, for the murder of another man's
slave. But he is exempted from this punishment who kills his own child
or other descendant, or his own slave, or his son's slave, or a slave of
whom he is part-owner; so also are his accomplices: and according to
Esh-Sháfi´ee, a Muslim, though a slave, is not to be put to death for
killing an infidel, though the latter be free. A man who kills another
in self-defence, or to defend his property from a robber, is exempt from
all punishment. The price of blood is a debt incumbent on the family,
tribe, or association, of which the homicide is a member. It is also
incumbent on the inhabitants of an enclosed quarter, or the proprietor
or proprietors of a field, in which the body of a person killed by an
unknown hand is found; unless the person has been found killed in his
own house.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account