ﲃ ﲄ ﲅ ﲆ ﲇ ﲈ ﲉ ﲊ ﲋ ﲌ ﲍ ﲎ ﲏ ﲐ ﲑ ﲒ
But whoever kills a believer intentionally - his recompense is Hell, wherein he will abide eternally, and Allah has become angry with him and has cursed him and has prepared for him a great punishment.
Tafsir
Verse range: 4:92-93
This does not refer to the category of the above-mentioned hypocrites whose blood has been made lawful, but to the sincere Muslims who lived either in "the Abode of Islam", or in "the war zone" or "the abode of unbelief", against whom there was no proof that they had taken part in the hostile activities of the enemies of Islam: such a warning was necessary because there were many people who had accepted Islam sincerely but were still forced by circumstances to live among the foes of Islam; and there had been cases when some of them were accidentally killed by their Muslim brethren during an attack on an enemy clan. Therefore, Allah has enjoined what a Muslim, who kills a Muslim by mis-chance, must do to expiate such an accidental sin.
As the slain person was a Believer, a believing slave is to be set free as expiation for his accidental murder.
The Holy Prophet prescribed one hundred camels or two hundred cows or two thousand goats as blood-money to be paid to the survivors of the slain man. If one desired to pay it in any other form, he would have to calculate it in terms of the market price of these animals. For instance, the blood-money paid in cash during the time of the Holy Prophet was eight hundred gold dinars or eight thousand silver dirhams. During his Caliphate, Hadrat 'Umar declared, "Now that the price of a camel has gone up, one thousand dinars or twelve thousand dirhams should be paid as blood-money. " It should, however,, be noted that the blood money prescribed here is not for a willful murder but for an accidental one.
In brief, the following are the Commandments contained in v. 92: If the slain person is an inhabitant of "the Abode of Islam," his murderer shall have to pay blood-money as compensation and also to set free a slave to earn his forgiveness from God. And if he is an inhabitant of a "war zone", the murderer shall have only to set free a slave and not to pay any blood-money. And if he belongs to an "abode of unbelief" which is an ally of the Islamic State, the murderer shall have to set free a slave and also have to pay blood-money equal to the amount of the blood-money of a non-Muslim victim as contained in the treaty.
These fasts must be consecutive without a single day's break; if there is a single break, except if it be in accordance with the Law, one shall have to begin the prescribed fasting anew for two full months.
That is, "The freeing of a slave or the payment of blood-money or the fasting for two consecutive months is not a penalty but is repentance and kaffarah (cover) for the offense. The difference between the two is that in the case of penalty, there is no feeling of self-reproach, compunction, contrition and self-reform, but there is a feeling of disgust and aversion, and it leaves disgust and bitterness behind it. That is why Allah enjoins kaffarah and repentance so that the offender may be able to purify his soul by means of good deeds, devotion and fulfillment of the rights, and turn to Allah through self-reproach and compunction. in this way the sinner will not only atone for his present sin but will also refrain in future from such errors. Kaffarah literally means a cover; a good deed that is performed as kaffarah for a sin, so to say, covers it just as a white-wash covers a blot on a wall.
