It is narrated from Ibne Abi Husain that:
“A man hit at the head of a person from the People of the Book. Umar bin
Khattab decided to take retaliation from him. Maaz bin Jabal asked:
‘Do you know that you have no right to this? And it has come down from
the Prophet.’
So Umar bin Khattab gave a dinar to that man and he was satisfied.”1
24. The Caliph’s opinion regarding the slain from the People of Book
The following incident is narrated from Mujahid:
When Umar bin Khattab entered Shaam, he learnt that a Muslim man had slain a person from the People of Book.
So Umar decided to take retaliation from him. At this point Zaid bin Thabit asked:
“Do you want to take retaliation from your brother for the sake of your slave?
So instead of taking retaliation from him, Umar paid him blood money.2
25. The Caliph’s verdict regarding human fingers
Saeed bin Musayyab says:
Umar bin Khattab fixed 13 percent of the whole blood money for the thumb;
12 percent for the index finger, 10 percent for middle finger, 9 percent for the
finger next to it and 6 percent for the small finger.
It is narrated from Abu Ghatfan that: Ibne Abbas said: The blood money of
each finger is one-tenth. (that is one-tenth of blood money of a complete man).
Marwan came to know about the verdict of Ibne Abbas. He summoned him and
asked:
“O Ibne Abbas, why do you give uniform verdict about fingers? Have you
not heard the verdict of Umar?”
Ibne Abbas said: “May God forgive Umar; the statement of the Messenger
of Allah (s.a.w.a.) is having precedence over the decision of Umar.”3
Allamah Amini says: As Ibne Abbas has given the verdict, in the Sihah and
Musnad books, there are definite traditional reports from the Prophet that he said: “The blood money of each and every finger is one-tenth.”
This is the proven practice of Prophet and the verdict of Umar is his personal
view and the matter is as Ibne Abbas said:
“The statement of Prophet is more worthy to be followed than the decision
of Umar.”
I don’t know if the Caliph was even aware of the statement of Prophet and
had opposed it unintentionally or he was ignorant of it.
“If he was ignorant it is a calamity, and if he was aware, then it is a greater
calamity.”
26. The Caliph’s view regarding the thief
It is narrated from Abdur Rahman bin Ayez that a thief with an amputed
hand and a foot was brought to Umar.
He ordered them to cut off his foot. Ali (a.s.) said: Allah, the Mighty and
Sublime says:
إِنَّمَا جَزَٰٓؤُا۟ ٱلَّذِينَ يُحَارِبُونَ ٱللَّهَ وَرَسُولَهُۥ وَيَسْعَوْنَ فِى ٱلْأَرْضِ فَسَادًا أَن يُقَتَّلُوٓا۟ أَوْ يُصَلَّبُوٓا۟ أَوْ تُقَطَّعَ أَيْدِيهِمْ وَأَرْجُلُهُم مِّنْ خِلَـٰفٍ أَوْ يُنفَوْا۟ مِنَ ٱلْأَرْضِ ۚ ذَٰلِكَ لَهُمْ خِزْىٌۭ فِى ٱلدُّنْيَا ۖ وَلَهُمْ فِى ٱلْـَٔاخِرَةِ عَذَابٌ عَظِيمٌ(٣٣)
“The punishment of those who wage war against Allah and His
apostle and strive to make mischief in the land is only this, that
they should be murdered or crucified or their hands and their
feet should be cut off on opposite sides or they should be
imprisoned; this shall be as a disgrace for them in this world,
and in the hereafter they shall have a grievous chastisement,”4
Now his one hand and one foot was amputed, so it is not proper that his
another foot, with which he moved about, should also be amputed and that he
should be left without any foot. Instead, he should be lashed or imprisoned.
So, he was made a prisoner.5