Who constitutes the 'Aqilah' (blood relatives responsible for paying blood money/diya)?
General Chapter
Al-Mughni
Book of Blood-Money (Diyyāt)
Primary text
The 'Aqilah' are the agnatic heirs (Asabah). There is a consensus among scholars that relatives such as maternal brothers, distant kin (Dhawi al-Arham), and the spouse are not considered part of the 'Aqilah'. The term 'Aqilah' refers to those who bear the 'Aql' (blood money), which is termed 'Aql' because it restrains the tongue of the heir of the slain person, or because they restrain the killer from harm. There are two differing narrations regarding the inclusion of the killer's father and sons within the 'Aqilah'.
Supporting text
One narration states that all agnates, including the ascendants and descendants of the killer, as well as his brothers and paternal uncles and their sons, are included in the 'Aqilah'. This view is adopted by Abu Bakr, Al-Sharif Abu Ja'far, Malik, and Abu Hanifa. Their evidence is the narration from 'Amr ibn Shu'ayb, from his father, from his grandfather, stating that the Prophet (PBUH) decreed that a woman's blood money is distributed among her agnates, regardless of whether they inherit from her or not, unless there are other heirs, in which case her blood money is distributed among her heirs. The second narration excludes the father and sons of the killer from the 'Aqilah'. This is the position of Al-Shafi'i, supported by Hadith where the Prophet (PBUH) placed the diya of a killed woman upon her 'Aqilah', but made her inheritance go to her children, and in another narration, the Prophet (PBUH) made the inheritance of the female killer go to her sons while the blood money remained upon the 'Asabah', and explicitly affirmed the inheritance belonged to the husband and sons, not the 'Aqilah'.