I had a terrible car accident when ...

Egypt's Dar Al-Ifta

I had a terrible car accident when I was driving and my friend died in the crash. Am I responsible for his death?

Question

El Salamo Alekom,
I was driving a car and had a serious accident, a friend of mine died in the car crash. Am I responsible for his death? Do I have to pay for his death? Do I have to fast 60 days?

Answer

This is considered involuntary manslaughter. The obligatory diyya [blood money] for involuntary manslaughter in Islamic law is 1000 gold dinars or 12.000 silver dirhams. The practice and the opinion implemented for fatwa in Egypt today is that the diyya is calculated in terms of silver.
The majority of scholars have maintained that one dirham of silver is equal to 2.975 gm, so the total weight is 35 kg 700 gm of pure silver. This amount of silver or its cash equivalent calculated according to the market price of the day is implemented and given to the victim's family.
In Islamic law, it is obligatory for the person who commits involuntary manslaughter to expiate for it by fasting for two consecutive months. If a person is unable to fast, he is to feed 60 poor people. But it is obligatory for whoever possess the ability to fast. According to the opinion of the Hanafi scholars, it is permissible to pay the value of the meal in cash by giving each poor person the value of two gratifying meals. It is permissible to feed the 60 poor people on one day or more.
 

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