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Semi-intentional Murder

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Semi-intentional Murder (Arabic: القتل شبه العمد, al-Qatl Shibh al-ʿAmd), also known as Quasi-intentional Homicide and Manslaughter, is a type of killing in which the killer does not intend to kill, and the action performed is not typically lethal, yet the killer has committed the act intentionally; such as medical procedures that unintentionally lead to the patient's death. Semi-intentional murder is distinguished from Intentional Murder (al-Qatl al-ʿAmd) and Pure Error Murder (al-Qatl al-Khaṭāʾi al-Maḥḍ). In the former, the killer intends to kill, while in the latter, the killer neither intends to kill nor intends to perform the action that led to the killing on the victim.

According to jurists, semi-intentional murder does not entail Qisas (retaliation); however, the killer must pay the full Diya and offer Kaffara (expiation). The Kaffara consists of fasting for two consecutive months, and if that is not possible, feeding sixty poor people.

Status

Semi-intentional murder is one of the categories of homicide.[1] Jurists have discussed this topic in sections such as Qisas and Diyat, stating the religious rulings related to it.[2] In some hadith sources, there is also a chapter dedicated to this title.[3] Qur'an 4:92 refers to unintentional killing and the obligation to pay Diya for it, and Quranic exegetes have applied it to semi-intentional murder.[4]

Concept

Semi-intentional murder is defined as killing a human being without the killer intending to kill, and the act performed is not typically lethal, but the act itself is done intentionally;[5] such as medical procedures that unintentionally cause the death of a patient[6] or ordinary disciplining of a child that unintentionally results in their death.[7] In jurisprudential and legal sources, semi-intentional murder is categorized alongside two other types: Intentional Murder and Pure Error Murder (or unintentional murder).[8]

  • The criterion for Intentional Murder is that both the act and the killer's intent to kill are intentional.
  • The criterion for Unintentional (Pure Error) Murder is that both the act and the killer's intent are based on mistake; such as shooting at an animal and the bullet accidentally hitting a human.[9]
  • The criterion for Semi-intentional Murder is that the killer's act is intentional, but the intent is not to kill.[10]

Semi-intentional murder sometimes faces ambiguities, and its identification is a matter of dispute because it is a combination of intentional and pure error types;[11] meaning it resembles intentional murder in that the killer intends the act, and resembles pure error in that there is no intent to kill.[12] For example, if someone inflicts an injury on another that causes only illness, but in the future, that same illness leads to death, there is a difference of opinion among jurists whether this killing is intentional or semi-intentional.[13]

Ruling

According to the fatwa of jurists, semi-intentional murder does not result in Qisas (retaliation) for the killer; rather, they must pay Diya.[14] The period for paying Diya in semi-intentional murder is two years, and it is paid from the killer's own property.[15] It is stated in jurisprudential sources that sometimes the payment of Diya is lifted through Ibra' (exoneration/waiver by the owner of the Diya) or by disclaimer of responsibility; for example, if a doctor does not accept responsibility for paying Diya in case of the patient's death before treatment, and the patient or their guardian accepts this, and the doctor is not negligent in treatment but the patient dies, according to the famous opinion, paying Diya is not obligatory for the doctor.[16]

Jurists state that in semi-intentional murder, in addition to Diya, Kaffara must also be paid.[17] According to the famous opinion,[18] the payment of Kaffara is in this order: freeing a slave; if that is not possible, fasting for two consecutive months; if neither is possible, feeding sixty poor people.[19]

Semi-intentional murder in the laws of different countries

In many contemporary legal systems, although the term semi-intentional murder is not used as an independent legal category, a concept comparable to it is recognized under classifications such as manslaughter, non-intentional homicide, or homicide resulting from dangerous or negligent conduct. In common-law jurisdictions such as Australia, England and Wales, and the United States, this concept is generally addressed under the offence of manslaughter, which covers unlawful killings committed without a specific intent to cause death. These legal systems distinguish manslaughter from murder primarily on the basis of the mental element, emphasizing the absence of deliberate intent to kill while recognizing the existence of recklessness, gross negligence, or the commission of a dangerous unlawful act that leads to death.[20]

In contrast, some civil-law systems, including France, classify homicide mainly into intentional and unintentional forms and do not recognize a separate category explicitly corresponding to semi-intentional murder. Conduct that may resemble semi-intentional killing is typically treated as intentional bodily harm resulting in death or as aggravated negligent homicide, depending on the degree of awareness and fault attributed to the offender.[21] By comparison, Iranian criminal law, influenced by Islamic jurisprudence, explicitly recognizes semi-intentional murder as a distinct category alongside intentional murder and pure mistake. Article 291 of the Islamic Penal Code identifies cases in which the perpetrator lacks intent to kill but knowingly commits an act that typically results in harm, or mistakenly targets a person under a false assumption, such as shooting a human being while believing the target to be an animal.[22]

Notes

  1. ↑ Quṭb al-Dīn Rāwandī, Fiqh al-Qurʾān, 1405 AH, vol. 2, p. 414.
  2. ↑ For example, see: Muḥaqqiq al-Ḥillī, Sharāʾiʿ al-Islām, 1408 AH, vol. 4, p. 228; Najafī, Jawāhir al-kalām, 1362 AH, vol. 42, p. 7; Sabziwārī, Muhadhdhab al-aḥkām, 1413 AH, vol. 29, p. 62.
  3. ↑ Kulaynī, Al-Kāfī, 1407 AH, vol. 7, p. 278; Ḥurr al-ʿĀmilī, Wasāʾil al-Shīʿa, 1409 AH, vol. 29, p. 35.
  4. ↑ For example, see: Ṭabarī, Jāmiʿ al-bayān, 1412 AH, vol. 5, p. 136; Fakhr al-Dīn Rāzī, Mafātīḥ al-ghayb, 1420 AH, vol. 10, pp. 176-177; Makārim Shīrāzī, Tafsīr-i nimūna, 1374 Sh, vol. 4, p. 71.
  5. ↑ Gurjī, Āyāt al-aḥkām-i ḥuqūqī wa jazāyī, 1385 Sh, p. 45.
  6. ↑ Najafī, Jawāhir al-kalām, 1362 AH, vol. 43, pp. 46-47; Montaẓerī, Aḥkām-i pizishkī, 1427 AH, p. 51; Fāḍil Lankarānī, Aḥkām-i pizishkān wa bīmārān, 1427 AH, p. 187.
  7. ↑ Gurjī, Āyāt al-aḥkām-i ḥuqūqī wa jazāyī, 1385 Sh, p. 45.
  8. ↑ Quṭb al-Dīn Rāwandī, Fiqh al-Qurʾān, 1405 AH, vol. 2, p. 414; "Article 289 of the Islamic Penal Code", Research Center of the Islamic Consultative Assembly; Aḥmadī-nizhād, "Baze-yi qatl-i ʿamd dar ḥuqūq-i Īrān wa fiqh-i Imāmiyya", pp. 101-102.
  9. ↑ Muḥaqqiq al-Ḥillī, Sharāʾiʿ al-Islām, 1408 AH, vol. 4, p. 228.
  10. ↑ Muḥaqqiq al-Ḥillī, Sharāʾiʿ al-Islām, 1408 AH, vol. 4, p. 228.
  11. ↑ Ḥātamī et al., "Tashkhīṣ-i qatl-i shibh-i ʿamd...", p. 115.
  12. ↑ Mālmīr et al., "Meʿyārhā-yi qatl-i shibh-i ʿamd...", p. 56.
  13. ↑ Muʾassisa Dāʾirat al-Maʿārif Fiqh Islāmī, Farhang-i fiqh, 1387 Sh, vol. 6, p. 492.
  14. ↑ Ḥillī, Taḥrīr al-aḥkām al-sharʿiyya, 1420 AH, vol. 5, p. 527; Quṭb al-Dīn Rāwandī, Fiqh al-Qurʾān, 1405 AH, vol. 2, p. 415.
  15. ↑ Muḥaqqiq al-Ḥillī, Sharāʾiʿ al-Islām, 1408 AH, vol. 4, p. 229; Shahīd al-Thānī, Al-Rawḍa al-bahiyya, vol. 4, p. 488; Imām Khomeinī, Taḥrīr al-wasīla, vol. 2, pp. 556-557.
  16. ↑ Najafī, Jawāhir al-kalām, 1362 AH, vol. 43, pp. 46-47; Montaẓerī, Aḥkām-i pizishkī, 1427 AH, p. 51; Fāḍil Lankarānī, Aḥkām-i pizishkān wa bīmārān, 1427 AH, p. 187.
  17. ↑ Quṭb al-Dīn Rāwandī, Fiqh al-Qurʾān, 1405 AH, vol. 2, p. 415; Najafī, Jawāhir al-kalām, 1362 AH, vol. 43, p. 407; Montaẓerī, Al-Aḥkām al-sharʿiyya, 1413 AH, p. 564.
  18. ↑ Muʾassisa Dāʾirat al-Maʿārif Fiqh Islāmī, Farhang-i fiqh, 1387 Sh, vol. 4, p. 495.
  19. ↑ Quṭb al-Dīn Rāwandī, Fiqh al-Qurʾān, 1405 AH, vol. 2, p. 415; Najafī, Jawāhir al-kalām, 1362 AH, vol. 43, p. 407.
  20. ↑ Andrew Ashworth, Principles of Criminal Law, Oxford University Press, 2013, pp. 279–285.
  21. ↑ Hatami et al., “Tashkhis-e qatl-e shibh-e ‘amd dar fiqh-e Imamiya va nezam-haye huquqi-ye Iran va Faransa,” p. 130.
  22. ↑ “Islamic Penal Code of Iran”, Research Center of the Islamic Consultative Assembly.

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