In Saudi Arabia, killers may be pardoned

A video went viral on social media showing a Saudi tribe giving six Lexus LX Luxury SUVs to another Saudi citizen who pardoned a member of this clan convicted of killing his son following four years of dispute between the two sides.

The story sheds light on how the Islamic Sharia laws regarding pardon, qisas (retaliation in kind), or diyya (blood-money) are being applied among Arab tribes in Saudi Arabia when it comes to capital punishment.

The video footage showed members of Harb tribe giving gifts (SAR 5 million and six Lexus LX Luxury SUVs) to Sheikh Hamid Al-Qariqri Al-Harbi and his sons after the latter pardoned the killer (Metrik Al-Qahtani) of his son (Ahmed Al-Qariqri) when the father knew the killer is his mother’s only son at the Justice Square, where public executions are carried out against those who face capital punishments. 

However, it was reported that the father rejected the gifts, but the tribe insisted and asked him to accept the cars. Qariqri said in comments to Saudi newspaper Okaz that he pardoned Qahtani after he found out that the latter was his mother’s only son just a few minutes before the killer was to be beheaded.

هدايا عددا من رجال اعمال #قبيلة_حرب 
يقدمون هذا المساء في #محافظة_جدة 
لشيخ العفو #حميد_القريقري_الحربي وابنائه 
والشيخ عبدالكريم القريقري 
ستة سيارات منها جيوب لكزس ولاندكروزر 
يسلمها رجل الاعمال الشيخ سليم الصاعدي 

#الوليد_بن_طلال#فرسان_التعليم 
#زد_رصيدك26 pic.twitter.com/nNW2o23V5t

— قبيلة حرب بالسعودية والخليج🇸🇦 (@shababharb) January 3, 2024

The conflict dates back to 2019 when a quarrel broke out between Qahtani and Ahmed Al- Qariqri, which ended with the murder of Qariqri in Al Hamadaniyyah City in Jeddah. 

The Kingdom’s justice system depends on the rules of Islamic Sharia, which adopts the principle of qisas. The death penalty is carried out in the public square by beheading or by shooting.

A similar case took place on January 7 when a Syrian resident in Saudi Arabia also pardoned the killer of his son at the justice court for the sake of Allah, Saudi newspapers reported.

Countries like Saudi Arabia that apply Islamic Sharia give the relatives of the killed person the right to pardon the killer. However, in other countries like Egypt, criminal acts like cases of murder do not allow for pardoning under the criminal code, legal expert Doaa Omar said in comments to Jusoor Post.

“The relatives of the murdered have no right to pardon, because the law considers such crimes to be related to the public interest. The waiver to the right of pardon is allowed in civil claims,” Omar added.

Religiously, Islam made qisas (retaliation) as a type of deterrence and defense for the oppressed and the murdered. However, executing the retaliation has rules, but forgiveness and pardon are preferable.

God says in the Quran: {O ye who believe! Equitable retaliation in the matter of the slain is prescribed for you; the free man for the free man, and the slave for the slave, and the female for the female. But for him who is granted any remission by his injured brother, pursuing the matter for the realization of the blood-money shall be done with fairness, and the murderer shall pay him the blood-money in a handsome manner. This is an alleviation from your Lord and a mercy. And whoso transgresses thereafter, for him there shall be a grievous punishment. And there is life for you in (the law of) retaliation, O men of understanding, that you may guard yourselves} [Surah al-Baqara, verses 178 and 179].

Relatives of the murdered may also accept blood-money (diyya) from the killer or his family members for pardon.

Psychologically, it is not easy for those who pardon the killers of their beloved ones. “Pardoning the murderer depends on the strength of faith, the strength of character, and the strength of the [bond of] family of the murdered person. This is by the principle of pardon while in a state of power,” Egyptian psychiatrist Jamal Mohamed Farwaiz told Jusoor Post.

He noted that pardoning the killers should not be under pressure or threats, and he who pardons should be with a sound mind and fully content of what he doing. “As for those who pardon for nothing, it is evidence of [their] humanity,” said Farwaiz.