The Supreme Judiciary Council’s value for blood money, which is paid after a conviction for semi-intentional (SR110,000) and unintentional murder (SR100,000), was last fixed in 1980.
The move to re-evaluate these figures has come in the wake of huge rises in camel prices in Saudi Arabia and other Gulf countries. Some breeds cost millions of riyals.
Under Islamic Shariah rules, blood money is paid by giving 100 camels – 80 female and 20 male – to the victim’s family. The male camels should be no more than one year old, while the females should be split into four of groups of 20. The age of the animals in the first female group should be one year, the second group two years, and so forth.
Members of the General Commission of the Riyadh High Court will check the prices of camels in various parts of the Kingdom with the help of chief auctioneers at livestock markets.
A number of camel owners told Arab News prices range from SR3,000 for young camels to SR20,000 for old camels, depending on the breed and gender. They added rare breeds can fetch millions of riyals.
Suwailam ibn Jary, who is chief auctioneer for camels at the livestock market in Jeddah, said rare breeds, usually owned by rich people, are never sold in open markets but privately.
"I have been working in the livestock market for more than 25 years and have never seen a rare breed camel being sold there," he said.
He added camels sold at the market are designated for slaughter, breeding or trade.
"These are the camels specified for the payment of diyah," he explained.
Camel breeder Hamoud Al-Harbi said camels specified for the payment of diyah should not be of a rare breed as they are too expensive for ordinary people.
"We have to think of poor and low-income people while evaluating the prices of camels for blood money, especially as rich people will never be bothered by prices no matter how high they are," he said.
Al-Harbi expressed hope that camels would not be affected by price hikes, as it would lead to an increase in diyah.
Islamic scholar Sheikh Nasser Al-Jabri cited a Hadith (saying) of the Prophet on why the value of the blood money is 100 camels.
"During the time of the Prophet the camels would be tied up in front of the house of the victim’s family as blood money," he said.
Sheikh Al-Jabri said the camels were chosen for the payment of diyah as they were the most expensive animals at the time.
"This was to deliver justice, deter the aggressor and ensure the victim’s children were able to lead a good life," he explained.
He urged the commission not to include the prices of rare breeds in their assessment of camel prices.