What is the procedure if an abandoned infant, lacking wealth, is the victim of an intentional crime punishable by Qisas before he reaches maturity?
General Chapter
Al-Mughni
Book of Foundlings
Primary text
If the infant lacks wealth, the matter is suspended until his maturity if he is mentally competent so that he may seek recourse for himself. However, if the infant is mentally incompetent, the guardian may grant amnesty in exchange for financial compensation to be taken on his behalf. This distinction is made because the mentally incompetent person's state has no predictable end date, whereas the competent person has a foreseeable state (maturity). In the situation where maturity is awaited, the perpetrator must be imprisoned until the abandoned infant reaches maturity to claim recourse for himself. This is the view of Al-Shafi'i.
Supporting text
There is a transmission from Ahmad, and it is the view of Abu Hanifa, that the Imam has the authority to enforce the Qisas on his behalf, as it is one of the two types of Qisas, thus making the Imam its executor, similar to Qisas in homicide. The rebuttal is that this Qisas is not definitively required to be executed, thus it must await his statement, similar to the case of an absent adult. It differs from Qisas in homicide because that Qisas belongs to the heirs, and the Imam is merely the administrator.