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Is it permissible to demand financial and moral compensation from the perpetrator in a case of attempted murder with a knife, knowing that the judiciary operates under man-made laws, not Islamic law?

1 min readAlso available in العربية

It is permissible for the judge to ask the victim to accept financial compensation instead of qisas (retaliation), and in fact, it is legislatively required for him to offer reconciliation to the disputants, citing the Almighty's words: "So make reconciliation between them" and "Reconciliation is better," as well as the hadith: "Reconciliation is permissible among Muslims, except a reconciliation that permits what is forbidden or forbids what is permissible." However, it is not permissible to compel the disputants to reconcile. Rather, the victim must be enabled to exact qisas, unless there is a fear of the perpetrator's death, in which case it shifts to diyah (blood money). It is not permissible to seek judgment from a judge who rules by man-made laws, based on the Almighty’s words: "And if you disagree over anything, refer it to Allah and the Messenger," except out of necessity to reclaim rights, and with certain conditions.

Summarized from the full answer at Ftawy · reviewed Sep 2, 2026

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