How should the financial obligation be distributed if the number of 'Aqilah members in the same kinship tier is large?
General Chapter
Al-Mughni
Book of Blood-Money (Diyyāt)
Primary text
If the number of the 'Aqilah in one tier is large, the required total amount must be divided among all of them, meaning the judge must assign a portion to each according to his assessment, even if the individual share is small. This is because they are equal in kinship, meaning they should be treated equally, just as if their number were small or in matters of inheritance. The difficulty of collecting small amounts is not a valid ground for deviation, as the hardship of increasing the required sum is greater. Furthermore, basing a ruling on convenience without textual support is flawed, as it is contradicted by the ease of the individual payment and the overall ease upon the group.
Supporting text
An alternative view, one opinion of Shafi'i, suggests that the judge should single out whomever he wishes from among them and impose the full required amount upon them, to prevent the amount from falling below the required minimum, which would result in a trivial sum that is difficult to collect. Another opinion of Shafi'i suggests that the moderately wealthy should bear half of what the wealthy bear, extending this principle to all of them.