45/39, 40: Chapter
Sunan an-Nasai 4821 — Diyah and Responsibility
The Diyah For A Woman's Fetus
Hadith About Diyah for a Pregnant Woman and Her Fetus
Sunan an-Nasai : 4821
Sunan an-NasaiHadith Number 4821
أَخْبَرَنَا عَلِيُّ بْنُ مُحَمَّدِ بْنِ عَلِيٍّ، قَالَ حَدَّثَنَا خَلَفٌ، - وَهُوَ ابْنُ تَمِيمٍ - قَالَ حَدَّثَنَا زَائِدَةُ، عَنْ مَنْصُورٍ، عَنْ إِبْرَاهِيمَ، عَنْ عُبَيْدِ بْنِ نُضَيْلَةَ، عَنِ الْمُغِيرَةِ بْنِ شُعْبَةَ، أَنَّ امْرَأَةً، ضَرَبَتْ ضَرَّتَهَا بِعَمُودِ فُسْطَاطٍ فَقَتَلَتْهَا وَهِيَ حُبْلَى فَأُتِيَ فِيهَا النَّبِيُّ صلى الله عليه وسلم فَقَضَى رَسُولُ اللَّهِ صلى الله عليه وسلم عَلَى عَصَبَةِ الْقَاتِلَةِ بِالدِّيَةِ وَفِي الْجَنِينِ غُرَّةً . فَقَالَ عَصَبَتُهَا أَدِي مَنْ لاَ طَعِمَ وَلاَ شَرِبَ وَلاَ صَاحَ فَاسْتَهَلّ فَمِثْلُ هَذَا يُطَلّ فَقَالَ النَّبِيُّ صلى الله عليه وسلم " أَسَجْعٌ كَسَجْعِ الأَعْرَابِ " .
Al-Mughirah bin Shu'bah Narrated from:
A woman struck her co-wife with a tent pole and killed her, and she (the slain woman) was pregnant. She was brought to the Prophet, and the Messenger of Allah ruled that the 'Asabah of the killer should pay the Diyah, and a slave (should be paid) for the fetus. Her 'Asabah said: "Should Diyah be paid for one who neither ate nor drank, or shouted or cried (at the moment of birth)? Such a one should be overlooked." The prophet said: "Rhyming verse like the verse of the Bedouins."
Reference : Sunan an-Nasa'i 4821In-book reference : Book 45, Hadith 116English translation : Vol. 5, Book 45, Hadith 4825
Summary of Sunan an-Nasai Hadith 4821
This hadith speaks about a serious case where a woman struck her co-wife with a tent pole and killed her while she was pregnant. The Messenger of Allah ruled that the killer's Asabah should pay the Diyah for the slain woman, and that a slave should be given as compensation for the fetus. When the Asabah objected by saying the fetus had not eaten, drunk, cried, or shouted, the Prophet rejected their rhymed words and compared them to the verse of Bedouins. This hadith about Diyah and fetal compensation teaches that responsibility is not removed by clever speech. The ruling in the text treats both the slain woman and the unborn child as matters of serious accountability.
What we learn from this hadith
- The Diyah for the slain woman was placed on the killer's Asabah in this case.
- A separate compensation was ruled for the fetus in the womb.
- Rhymed objections were not accepted as a way to escape the ruling.
