Is the blood money subject to the debts or bequests of the deceased?
Chapter on Distant Kindred (Dhawu al-Arham)
Al-Mughni
Book of Inheritance Shares (Farā'id)
Primary text
The blood money is subject to the inheritance shares, but it is not used to settle the debts of the deceased nor can bequests be executed from it, according to Abu Thawr and one narration from Ahmad. This hinges on whether the blood money becomes the property of the deceased or the heirs immediately upon its establishment.
Supporting text
There are two viewpoints regarding the ownership of the blood money. The first is that it accrues to the ownership of the deceased because it is a substitute for his person, similar to the compensation for his limbs severed while alive; thus, if he forgave it after injury but before death, it would be valid, whereas he cannot waive the rights of the heirs. The second view holds that it accrues immediately to the heirs' ownership because it only becomes due after death, at which point the deceased's ownership ceases, and ownership is established for the heirs ab initio.