Blood Money (Ad-Diyat)

Narrated Abu Huraira: In the year of the
Conquest of Mecca, the tribe of Khuza'a killed
a man from the tribe of Bam Laith in revenge
for a killed person belonging to them in the
Pre-lslamic Period of Ignorance. So Allah's
Apostle got up saying, "Allah held back the
(army having) elephants from Mecca, but He
let His Apostle and the believers overpower
the infidels (of Mecca). Beware! (Mecca is a
sanctuary)! Verily! Fighting in Mecca was not
permitted for anybody before me, nor will it be
permitted for anybody after me; It was
permitted for me only for a while (an hour or
so) of that day. No doubt! It is at this moment
a sanctuary; its thorny shrubs should not be
uprooted; its trees should not be cut down;
and its Luqata (fallen things) should not be
picked up except by the one who would look
for its owner. And if somebody is killed, his
closest relative has the right to choose one of
two things, i.e., either the Blood money or
retaliation by having the killer killed." Then a
man from Yemen, called Abu Shah, stood up
and said, "Write that) for me, O Allah's
Apostle!" Allah's Apostle said (to his
companions), "Write that for Abu Shah." Then
another man from Quraish got up, saying, "O
Allah's Apostle! Except Al-Idhkhir (a special
kind of grass) as we use it in our houses and
for graves." Allah's Apostle said, "Except Al-
idhkkir."