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Is it permissible for a father to kill his daughter without a reason, and if not permissible, what is the prescribed punishment for him, and would he be killed in retribution, and who has the right to pardon him to prevent the execution of the prescribed punishment?

1 min readAlso available in العربية

A father killing his daughter is among the gravest of forbidden acts. Scholars have differed regarding the retribution (qisas) for it. The majority view is that qisas is not applied, based on the hadith "A father is not killed for [killing] his child," and by analogy that the child is the father's property. However, Malik and Ibn Taymiyyah held the view that qisas is obligatory. Ibn 'Uthaymeen preferred this latter opinion, relying on the general rulings concerning the obligation of qisas and the weakness of the aforementioned hadith, considering that the father effectively caused his own execution by his action.

In the event that intentional killing is proven, the father is liable for the blood money (diyah) to his daughter's heirs. If one of the heirs pardons their right to qisas, then qisas is waived and the diyah becomes obligatory, because the right to qisas is waived by the pardon of one of its rightful claimants. Scholars have unanimously agreed on the permissibility of pardon and that it is superior.

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

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