Accidental death

:wa:

What happens in Islam if you accidentally killed someone? For example, let's say a doctor made a mistake and killed the patient by accident because he prescribed the wrong drug. How will this doctor be judged in accordance with Islam?

I'm talking about incidents where a person who does not have the intention to kill.

Well in most legal cases, your example would be considered manslaughter due to lack of mens reas (intention to commit a crime; in this case "to kill") as opposed to say Murder, thus carrying a different sentence (manslaughter carrying a more lenient one)

I'm pretty sure it's a similar case in Islam, but I'll look up manslaughter (in my trusty sharia law handbook) later on today and get back to you.

EDIT:

Regarding Manslaughter (unintentional/accidental killing), it says to pay Diyah or Blood money to the deceased's family.

For a more detailed answer, please check:
http://islamqa.info/en/ref/52809


I will make a thread regarding application of Hadd punishments soon as there's a lot of valuable information and insight that I think is worth sharing.

For the umpteenth time, please also consider purchasing this book: http://www.islamicbookstore.com/b2440.html if you haven't already done so. Yes it's a little expensive, but this is definitely a must have for Muslims and Non-Muslims who wish to learn more about Sharia law. I cannot recommend it enough - purchased it well over 4 years ago and I still learn new things each and every time I read it.