Shooting at &
Jh'-ve, who,
in the in terim,
is
emancipated,
induces re-
fponiibility to
the mailer.
If a perfon (hoot an arrow at a {lave, and the {lave be emancipated
by his matter, and the arrow then hit and kill him, the fhooter is
refponfible to the matter for the value of the {lave, according to Ha-
neefa and Aboo Toofqf. Mohammed fags, that an eftimate is iu this cafe
to be made of the value the Have bore before the arrow was {hot, . and
his value afterwards; and that the {hooter is refponfible to the Have’s
matter for the difference; becaufe the manumifiion precludes the con-
fequence of the offence;—in the fame manner as where a perfon uu-
defignedly ftlikes off the hand o f a {lave, and his matter afterwards
emancipates him,— in which cafe the manumifiion precludes *the con-
fequence, infomuch that neither the fine of blood nor the value of the
{lave are due, nor (in fhort) any thing except a muldt for the hand
and the difference occafioned in the value of the {lave; for here it js
uncertain who the claimant of right is, as at the time of the offence it
was the matter, and at the time o f the confequent death it was the
{lave, he being then free. The emancipation'of the Have, therefore,
operates the fame as his recovering from the wound;— and the confequence
being precluded, nothing remains-except the {hooting? and as
this alfo is an offence, (fince it tends to leflen the value of the flavb
{hot at,) the fhooter is confequently refponfible for the difference of
value thereby created. T h e argument of-the two Elders is thatJthb
{hooter is guilty of murder from the inftant of his {hooting ; forLhe,
in fadt, does nothing more than merely {hoot; but as this is a matter
which was at that time purely optional and in his power, he is con-
fequently refponlible for the value of the {lave, It is .otherwife where
a perfon undefignealy ttrikes off the hand of a Have, and the wound
proves fatal after he [the Have] has been emancipated.; for here the
offender has dettroyed a part of the fubjedt:,. which occafions arefpon-
fibility to the matter;—and if, upon the wound proving fatal, -any
thing remain due, it is. due oh behalf of the Jlave, he being then free.
In this inftance, therefore, the ftate of the cafe in the beginning is different
from what it is in the end, being fimilar to where the fubjedt
undergoes a complete change; and as, where the fubjedt is changed,
the
the mortal confequence is not eftablilhed at the firft, fo here likewife.
The mere {hooting of the arrow, on the contrary, is not a deftrudtion
of any thing previous to its-reaching the flave, the only effedt of it
upon the fubjedt being to leflen its value in the eyes of mankind from
the danger it is thus expofed to,— a circumftance not worthy o f any
regard. No atonement, therefore, is due on account of the mere
jhooting. Upon the arrow, however, reaching the fubjedt, the {hooting
of it becomes the efficient caufe of refponfibility, which, when
the arrow takes place, is referred to the adt of {hooting. In this inftance,
therefore, there is no difference between the beginning and the
end, the {hooting being confidered as murder alone, and not a wound,
fatal in its confequence; and accordingly, the value of the fubjedt [the
flave] is due on behalf of the matter.
I f the magiftrate pronounce upon any perfon a fentence of lapida- Cafeofftoot-
tion [for whoredom,] and one of the byftanders {hoot an arrow at this demned cri-"
perfon, and one of the witnefles then retradt from his teftimony,1 and fninal> ,wh°> , J . in the in tethen
the arrow take place, the fhooter is not refponfible for any thing; rim, Bands
for regard is here paid to the time of {hooting the arrow; and the acl ultte •
bloOd of the perfon condemned wasfot that; time in a neutral ftate..
H E D A T A .