Is there retribution (Qisas) if a person who previously knew someone to be a Dhimmi or a slave kills that person after the victim becomes a free Muslim?

General Chapter

Al-Mughni

Book of Wounds

Book 47 · Issue 2 · Bab 1

Open in Qurani

Primary text

If a person kills someone whom he previously knew to be a Dhimmi or a slave, but that victim had since converted to Islam and been manumitted (became free), then retribution (Qisas) is mandatory. This is because the killer intentionally and aggressively slew someone now considered equal to him in status, mandating Qisas, similar to a case where the killer knew the victim's free status from the outset. This differs from killing someone known to be a harbinger of war (*harbi*) because in the latter case, the killer did not intend to kill a protected individual.