Is accidental killing counted against a passerby or an oncoming driver who caused a fatal accident?
Source: FtawySummary from Ftawy's records · added here Sep 2, 2026
The jurists defined accidental killing as an act permissible for a legally competent individual, such as shooting game or aiming at a target, but then hitting an inviolable person and killing them, or digging a well into which a person falls. This includes car accidents to which the rulings of Islamic criminal law apply. The driver is responsible for any harm he inflicts on others, unless the accident was a result of an irresistible force, or due to the action of the injured party, or due to another's error. If the driver and the injured party shared in causing the harm, each would be liable for what the other lost.
Summary from Ftawy's records · added here
Reviewed by El Fatwa's sharia committee.
Read the full answer on Ftawyhttps://ftawy.com/en/questions/154618
Where this answer came from
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- Ftawy
- Original fatwa ID
- 154618
- Added here
- . This is when the answer was added to El Fatwa, not the fatwa's date.
- Text
- Summary from Ftawy's records, reviewed by El Fatwa's sharia committee.
- Read the full ruling
- Read the full answer on Ftawy