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What are the rulings on accidental killing committed by a non-Muslim doctor? Is the blood money multiplied by the number of deceased individuals when more than one person is responsible? To whom is the blood money paid if the victim is of unknown identity, and what is the ruling if this unknown deceased person is not Muslim?

1 min readAlso available in العربية

If the doctors' error in a person's death is proven, the blood money (diyya) is incumbent upon all of them, and the non-Muslim doctor is treated the same as them. The blood money is one [single payment] because the deceased is one person. Expiation (kaffarah) is obligatory for each of the Muslim doctors, which is the freeing of a believing slave; if one cannot find [a slave], then fasting for two consecutive months. As for the disbeliever, expiation is not obligatory upon him. If the identity of the deceased is unknown, their blood money goes to the Muslim treasury (Bayt al-Mal). Scholars have differed regarding the blood money of a non-Muslim: whether it is half the blood money of a Muslim or equal to it.

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

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