Wisdom & Execution of Qisas

**The Wisdom of Qisas:** Allah legislated Qisas as: - Mercy to people - Preservation of blood - Deterrence from aggression - Making the criminal taste what he made others taste - Removing the burning rage from the hearts of the victim's family - Life for people and survival of the human species As Allah said: "And there is for you in legal retribution [saving of] life, O you of understanding" [Al-Baqarah: 179]. --- **Conditions for Carrying Out Qisas:** When the conditions for Qisas are met, punishment is not inflicted on the criminal except with three additional conditions: **1. The One Entitled to Qisas Must be Legally Responsible:** Adult and sane. If the entitled one (or some of them) is a minor or insane, no one can take their place in carrying it out. Rather, the criminal is imprisoned until the minor matures and the insane regains sanity. Mu'awiyah رضي الله عنه did this and the Companions approved - making it like consensus. **2. Agreement of All Blood Guardians:** All who are entitled to Qisas must agree on carrying it out. None of them may act independently lest they execute another's right without permission. Wait for the absent to return, the minor to mature, and the insane to recover. If one of the entitled dies, his heirs take his place. If any of the entitled pardons, Qisas is waived. **3. The Execution Must Not Harm Others:** Based on Allah's saying: "So let him not exceed in killing" [Al-Isra: 33]. If Qisas is due upon a pregnant woman, she is not killed until she delivers to avoid harming the fetus. If she delivers: if there is someone to nurse the child, she is executed; if not, she is left until she weans him after two years - as the Prophet ﷺ said regarding the Ghamidiyyah woman: "Then we would stone her and leave her child with no one to nurse him?" A man from the Ansar said: "I will nurse him, O Prophet of Allah!" So he stoned her [Muslim]. **4. Qisas is Carried Out in the Presence of the Ruler:** The Imam or his deputy. He is the one who establishes it and authorizes it - to prevent injustice in its execution, ensure it is done according to Sharia, and prevent chaos and corruption. --- **Method of Execution:** - The principle is that the criminal is treated as he treated the victim, based on: "And if you punish, then punish with the like of that with which you were afflicted" [An-Nahl: 126]. The Prophet ﷺ crushed the head of the Jew who killed the girl between two stones - just as he had done to her [Bukhari & Muslim]. - The instrument must be sharp (sword, knife, etc.), based on the Prophet's ﷺ saying: "If you kill, kill well" [Muslim]. - If the blood guardian can properly carry out the execution according to Sharia, the ruler enables him. Otherwise, he must appoint someone skilled to carry it out on his behalf.