6 - The Dīwān Innovation in Ḥanafī Law

Summary

This chapter offers a full picture of the modifications that the Ḥanafī jurists introduced in the method of blood-money payment, basing on Umayyad practice and regulations. It suggests that these Ḥanafī jurists broadened significantly the Umayyad innovation of the method of payment, by changing also the composition of the ‘āqila. They removed the liability for blood money from the perpetrator's kinsmen, transferring it to the warriors of his military division who were registered with him on the same payroll of the dīwān. Together with other changes motivated by administrative considerations, the Ḥanafīs transformed the ‘āqila from a tribal solidarity group of limited size, into a group of thousands of men who shared no blood ties. The payment of blood money, previously the most important expression of solidarity, became a compulsory toll, which the government could levy by deduction from a large group, selected according to its own considerations.