Must the injuries inflicted by co-perpetrators in a joint killing be equal for Qisas to be mandatory?

General Chapter

Al-Mughni

Book of Wounds

Book 47 · Issue 5 · Bab 1

Open in Qurani

Primary text

Equality in the cause or nature of the injury inflicted by the co-perpetrators is not required for Qisas or Diyya to be established against them. If one inflicts a specific wound and another inflicts a different wound, and the victim dies, they are equal in liability for Qisas and Diyya. Requiring exact equality would lead to the nullification of Qisas in joint cases, as it is nearly impossible for two separate wounds to be identical in every aspect. Furthermore, the single wound is sufficient to cause death, just as the less severe of two potential injuries could be the cause of death. Once the injuries combine to cause death, the specific nature of the individual wounds ceases to be the primary consideration, and the group's action is treated as a single fatal act.