How is the compensation for the removal of an extra finger or an extra tooth assessed?
Chapter on Diyat (Blood Money) for Wounds
Al-Mughni
Book of Blood-Money (Diyyāt)
Primary text
If an extra finger or hand is removed, and the removal results in no net loss, no compensation is due. Similarly, if an extra tooth is removed, and the injured person has no original tooth in that place, the valuation is made after the extra tooth is gone. If removing a woman's beard would cause a slight diminution if she were assessed at twenty years old, but a significant diminution if assessed at forty, the assessment is to be made based on her being twenty years old, as this is the closest state to the injured person's current condition, analogous to assessing a wound that does not diminish after healing at its closest state to the moment of healing.
Supporting text
The opinion that the compensation for removing a woman's beard should be assessed as if she were a man is invalid, because the beard is an adornment for a man and a defect for a woman; thus, assessing what constitutes a defect with what constitutes an adornment is unsound. Likewise, assessing a tooth at the moment its removal is anticipated with a state of aversion is impermissible, as valuation must be based on equivalents and similarity, not opposition. Those who hold this view mandate the minimum possible compensation.