Debates on the Diya (Blood Money): Contemporary Juristic Discourse and Women’s Rights

Abstract

The present study focuses on a fatwa issued in 2005 by Yūsuf al-Qaraḍāwī. Unlike the predominant opinion of all law schools that the female’s diya is half that of a male’s, al-Qaraḍāwī argues that it is equal to that of a male’s. I claim that the encounter between the Modern-Salafi juristic methodology, applied by al-Qaraḍāwī, and the Traditional-Salafi methodology, applied by those who opposed his fatwa, captures in a nutshell the main features of current juristic debates in general, and debates on the legal status of women in particular. Although the strict methodology of Traditional-Salafis does not hold substantive potential for change, Modern-Salafis are able to undermine the orthodox positions by exploiting the lack of agreement on the authoritative reports and the ambiguous definitions of consensus, to form legal opinions that enhance women’s status.