A New Survey on the Nature of Blood Money in the View of Islamic Jurisprudence

The nature of blood money is an influential matter about which three main views have been presented so far. This article has strengthened a less widely known view which regards blood money as an exchange for satisfaction. According to the view, blood money is not a punishment nor compensation of damage or the combination of both of them; rather, it is essentially an exchange for satisfaction. In this view, blood money has not a legal nature; rather, it has a completely customary nature which has been signed up by divine law without any change. The customary function of blood money is basically getting the satisfaction of a victim against whom a crime has been committed as well as his/her legal guardians in order to put out the fire of quarrel and hostility. At the same time, it aims to compensate for some of the injuries or damages sustained by them. According to this view, the ruling government has the right to adjust the amount of blood money to the amount of damage based on the requirements of the time.