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WHY YOU SHOULD POISON YOUR HUSBAND:
A NOTE ON LIABILITY IN HANAFI LAW IN THE
OTTOMAN PERIOD
COLINIMBER
(Manchester,
UK)
Abstract
Hanafi legal doctrinecontainsan implicit analogy (althoughnot one that the
juriststhemselvesmake)betweenorderingan agentto kill andkillingsomeoneby
poison. In the formercase, it is not the principalbut the agent who is liable,
unlessthe agentactedundercompulsion.Similarly,a poisoneris liableonlywhen
he forces the poisonoussubstancedown the victim'sthroat,not when the victim
consumesthe poisonvoluntarily.A victimwho acceptsthe poisonis like an agent
who has receivedan orderto kill and carriesout the ordervoluntarily;but if the
poisoner forces the substancedown the victim's throat,the victim is in the
positionof an agentwho kills undercompulsion,andthe poisonerbecomesliable.
This rule suggestedto Ottomanjuristsan unusualsolutionto the problemof how
to preventan ex-husbandfromfornicatingwith his divorcedwife. The ex-wife
could,withoutincurringany liability,poisonhim.
1 For the developmentof this office, see R.C. Repp, The Miiftiof Istanbul
(Oxford:IthacaPress,1986).
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WHYYOUSHOULDPOISONYOURHUSBAND 207
2 Uriel
Heyd, "Some aspects of the Ottomanfetvd," Bulletin of the School of
Oriental and African Studies, xxxii (1969), 35-56.
3 The jurists in fact
recognise four categories of unintentional killing. These
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208 COLINIMBER
categories whichfollows.
arenot,however,relevantto theargument
4 Al-Marghinani,al-Hidaya (Cairo:Matba'atMustafaal-Babi al-Halabi,
1970), vol. 9, 244.
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WHY YOU SHOULD POISON YOUR HUSBAND 209
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210 IMBER
COLIN
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WHYYOUSHOULD YOURHUSBAND
POISON 211
6 In cases of unintentional
killing,the diya is due, strictlyspeaking,fromthe
killer's 'aqila.The quotationfromal-Kasanibelow andthe fetvasof the Ottoman
?eyhi'l-islamsindicatethatjuristsdid not adhereinvariablyto this rule.
7 Al-Sarakhsi,al-Mabsut(Beirut:Daral-Ma'rifa,1986),vol. 26, 153.
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212 COLIN
IMBER
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WHYYOUSHOULDPOISONYOURHUSBAND 213
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214 COLIN
IMBER
Dirrizade which follows, the fetvd emini has taken care to draft the
questionso as to leave no doubtthatcompulsionwas used:
(11) Question: Zeyd forces poison down 'Amr's throatand 'Amr dies
as a result.Is Zeydliablefor diya?
Answer: Yes.
The basic rule, therefore,is that a poisoner is not liable for diya if
his victim consumes the poison voluntarilywith his own hand. The
poisoner is analogous to a man who gives an order to kill, and the
victim is analogous to his agent. The agent has the option to disobey
the command,and the poisoner'svictim has the option not to consume
the poison. The man who gives an orderto kill is liable only when he
exercises compulsion,and the poisoneris liable only when he compels
his victim to swallow the poison. Both these rules underwentthe same
modification.Some juristsprescribecorrectivepunishment(ta'zir) for
the man who gives an orderto kill, and most prescribeta'zlr for the
poisoner. Ta'zir is, however, a discretionarypunishment,and can be
dropped.
These peculiar Hanafi rules for determining liability sometimes
promptedthe ?eyhi'l-islams to offer women an unexpected piece of
advice. This first emergesin a fetva of Ebu'l-suid:
(12) Question: Zeyd says, "If I do this thing, may my wife be
divorcedthreetimes."He thendoesit. His wife knows
this,butis unableto proveit. Is Zeyd'swife a sinner
(dthim)becauseZeydis intimatewithher?
Answer: It is fornication
(zina).It is essentialthatshe does not
[submit]voluntarily[to Zeyd's embrace].She must
give whatshehas andtheremustbe a khul'divorce.If
he triesto haveintercourse[withher]andthereis no
other means of escape, it is licit accordingto the
shari'ato add poison to his food. She would not
commita sin(giinch)andthereis no diya.
The problemhere began when the husbandpronouncedan irrevocable
divorce dependent on a condition.10The moment the condition was
fulfilled, the divorce came into effect.l1The formerhusband,however,
denied that he had fulfilled the condition, and the wife's word alone
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WHYYOUSHOULDPOISONYOURHUSBAND 215
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216 IMBER
COLIN
SourceReferencesforFetvds Quoted
DZ DurrizadeMehmed'Arif,Netlcetii'l-fetava(Manchester:John
Rylands Library,TurkishMs no.104).
Ali qatalcall 'Ali (compiled with proof-textsby $ilih b. Ahmed
el-Kefevi), Fetava-yi 'All Efendi (Istanbul: Imperial Press,
1312/1894-95)
ES M.E.Diizdak,$eyhiilislamEbussuudEfendiFetvalarinqlinda
16 Asir TurkHayati (Istanbul:EnderunKitabevi, 1972).
'Abd 'Abdu'l-rahim,Fetdvd-yi 'Abdii'l-rahim(Istanbul:Imperial
Press, 1243/1827).
IN Ibn Nujaym (compiled with Turkishtranslationby Re'fet b.
el-Hacc IbrahimRiiOdi),Fetdvd-yi Ibn-i Niiceym (Istanbul:
Matba'a-yi$eyh Yahya, 1279/1862-63).
Hus Fetdvd-yi Kemdlpa;azdde (Manchester: John Rylands
Library,TurkishMs no.39).
(1) DZf.142v
(2) Ali vol.2 p.296
(3) DZf.143r
(4) ES no.666
(5) 'Abd vol.l, p.369
(6) INp.336
(7) IN p.336-7
(8) ES no.755
(9) Ali vol.2 p.299
(10) Ali vol.2, p.299
(11) DZf.128v
(12) ES no.780
(13) Hus f.382r
(14) ES no.144
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