What is the procedure if the claimant for the middle or lowest segment demands Qisas before the claimant for the uppermost segment?
Chapter on Retaliation (Qawad)
Al-Mughni
Book of Wounds
Primary text
If the claimant for the middle segment or the lowest segment demands Qisas before the claimant for the uppermost segment, they shall not be granted it because executing their claim would result in the destruction of a segment they do not possess the right to claim against. They are given the option: either to wait until the outcome concerning the first claimant is known—if the first claimant executes Qisas, then they may execute theirs; if the first pardons, then neither has Qisas—or they can agree to accept the blood money (Diyah). Once the claimant of the uppermost segment executes Qisas, the second claimant obtains the right to Qisas, and the third claimant's ruling follows that of the second claimant relative to the first. If the first pardons, the second and third are entitled to Diyah. They are not prevented if they state they will wait to see if the uppermost segment is lost due to illness or similar causes, after which they will claim Qisas.