The Examination of the Evidences of the Dissimilarity (Difference) of the Diya (Punitive Compensation) of Women and Men

According to the fatwa (legal opinion concerning Islamic Law) of the Islamic famous jurists and some of Sunni Islamic schools of jurisprudence (fiqh) (the Hanbali school), there is dissimilarity (difference) between diya (punitive compensation) of women and men and the Islamic penal code which has been codified based on Imami jurisprudence has accepted this opinion (civil code, Article 300 previously and Article 500, although this attitude has opponents among the Islamic jurists. From the other side, in recent years with arising the feminist movements, it has been tried to state that Islam and especially Shia jurisprudence has no necessary dynamic and it has leaded to gender discrimination and in some cases it has caused the aggression against women. This paper aims to study the purpose (hikmah) of this dissimilarity (difference) between diya (punitive compensation) of women and men from the view of Imami dynamic jurisprudence and Islamic law, the comprehensiveness of Islamic ordinances (ahkam) and philosophy of this difference with documentary method. Therefore, after presenting the several debates which have been taken apart between these two opinions, it revealed that according to Shia these Islamic ordinances (ahkam) are valid and not against the noble Quran and Sunnah and it accords with other available Islamic decrees (rules) in legal system of Islam. Also psychic and bodily differences between men and women are necessity of creation order and it does not induce changes of Islamic ordinances (ahkam).