Nature of Blood Money in Islamic Jurisprudence and Iranian Criminal Law

This article studies the nature of blood money (Dia) in Islamic jurisprudence. There is a question whether blood money (Dia) is a punishment or it is solely compensation. There are four different views in this respect. Some believes it is only a punishment, others say it is only compensation. Some others say that we should divide it into two various parts; thus it is sometimes punishment and sometimes is compensation. The researcher believes it has double nature: it is both punishment and compensation. If one chooses any of these responses, there would be various results. One of the most important results is whether to gain compensation in addition to blood money is permissible or not.