Are Women Liable for Blood-Money Payment

An Attempt to Modify a Ḥanafī Rule

Bibliographic Data

ID6147799
AuthorsNurit Tsafrir (Tel Aviv University, corresponding author)
Year2021
Volume21
Issue2
Pages192-211
Publication date2021-11-02
Open AccessNo
TypeARTICLE
VenueHawwa (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 1569-2078 • E-ISSN: 1569-2086
PublisherBrill (PUBLISHER • NL)
DOI10.1163/15692086-bja10029
OpenAlexW3209199505
LanguageEN
References cited10

Against the view that only men are liable for blood-money payment due for homicide, which goes back to pre-Islamic custom and was adopted by the Sharīʿa, by the fifth/eleventh century a new opinion appeared in Ḥanafī doctrine. According to this opinion, women who perpetrated a homicide were required to pay a share of the blood money due. Examining the context of this opinion in Ḥanafī literature, I suggest that it reflects the jurists’ tendency to put more weight on the Islamic principle of individual responsibility, regardless of gender. I propose that this opinion developed among Persian Ḥanafīs in eastern Iran, and follow the path through which it was incorporated into Ḥanafī standard law. Finally, I estimate the extent to which this opinion did influence Ḥanafī doctrine

Business · Context (archaeology · Doctrine · Eleventh · Homicide · Islam · Payment · Poison control · Political science · Popular opinion · Sociology · Suicide prevention · History · Islamic Finance and Banking Studies · Islamic Studies and History · Law · Marriage and Sexual Relationships · Medicine · Finance

Tools

Open DOI