What is the maximum compensation due for the killing of a slave whose value is less than the prescribed blood money for a free person?
General Chapter
Al-Mughni
Book of Wounds
Primary text
If a slave whose value does not reach the Diyah of a free person is killed, the compensation due is his actual market value. Ahmad Ibn Hanbal, may Allah have mercy on him, holds that the compensation is always the slave's full market value, regardless of how high it goes, even if it exceeds the Diyah of a free person, whether the killing was intentional or accidental, and whether the liability arose from physical control (Yad) or inflicting injury (Janaayah). This view is held by Sa'id ibn al-Musayyab, Hasan, Ibn Sirin, Umar ibn Abd al-Aziz, Iyass ibn Mu'awiyah, al-Zuhri, Mak-hul, Malik, al-Awza'i, al-Shafi'i, Ishaq, and Abu Yusuf.
Supporting text
Al-Nukha'i, al-Sha'bi, al-Thawri, Abu Hanifa, and Muhammad state that the compensation does not exceed the Diyah of a free person. Abu Hanifa further specifies that if liability stems from injury, it is reduced from the free person's Diyah by the amount equal to the penalty for theft (one Dinar or ten Dirhams). However, if liability arises from wrongful possession (ghasb), the full value is due even if it exceeds the free person's Diyah. Their justification is that since Allah established a fixed maximum Diyah for a free person, whose status is elevated by freedom from servitude, the compensation for a deficient slave should not exceed that amount. The Malikis and Shafi'is argue that since a slave is valuable property (Maal Muqawwam), he is compensated by his full, current value, similar to a horse, regardless of the free person's Diyah, because the liability for the free person is stipulated by law and not based on inherent monetary value, unlike property.