Is the criminal permitted to execute Qisas upon himself if he offers to do so?
Chapter on Retaliation (Qawad)
Al-Mughni
Book of Wounds
Primary text
The criminal is not obliged to allow this, and it is not permissible for him to enforce Qisas upon himself. This is because of the prohibition against self-harm found in the verse {And do not kill yourselves} (Quran 4:29). Furthermore, the intent of Qisas is that the action performed upon the killer mirrors the action he performed, and Qisas is a right belonging to another, thus the person against whom the right is held cannot be the enforcer, analogous to a seller not being able to enforce a claim against himself.