Is a dismembered or amputated limb (Shalah) permissible to be taken as compensation for an equivalent limb?
Chapter on Retaliation (Qawad)
Al-Mughni
Book of Wounds
Primary text
Compensation in the form of a dismembered limb (al-Shalah) is permissible to be taken for another dismembered limb, provided security against increase or excess in the recompense is established during the collection. This is permissible because the two limbs share identity in the essence of the member and its description, making exchange permissible, similar to taking a sound limb for a sound limb. This principle is upheld by the general understanding of retributive justice applied to bodily harm.
Supporting text
The Shafi'i school, according to one of its two established opinions, holds that a dismembered limb cannot be taken as compensation because disability (illah) is a defect, and the effects of such defects vary across individuals, thus preventing true equivalence between the two limbs.