WAFATUN MUSABBATUN DOONA HAQQ
Explanation: Wrongful means committed without any right. Anything done wrongfully incurs responsibility. A wrongful doer is culpable. It has nothing to do with being premeditated or not. For example, it could be the result of negligence, but it is not excused as an unintended "error." The words KHATA' or QASD are simply irrelevant in this case. Notice that the phrase is "wrongful death," not "wrongful killing" or "wrongful homicide." Whether QATL is to be used in the translation or not will ultimately depend on how the sentence is constructed. Note: I currently have no access to a computer with Arabic input, so I am romanizing my words as best as I can.
-------------------------------------------------- Note added at 30 days (2004-09-09 03:37:05 GMT) Post-grading --------------------------------------------------
This addendum is in response to the questions posed by Mueen Issa and AhmedAMS below. I apologize for the delay. When death becomes the subject of litigation, a number of categories are distinguished in various legal systems. The following applies in most states in the US: Natural death -- موت طبيعي or وفاة طبيعية: This refers to death of old age or non-traumatic illness. If illness is involved, its onset and progression must not be intentionally caused by human intervention. Death is considered natural even if the illness is not part of the natural decay associated with old age. Non-natural death -- موت غير طبيعي: This is what happens when life is abruptly ended by events or circumstances other than aging or illness. Depending on the manner of the cessation of life, and especially the intervention of human agents, other terms are used to more precisely define the legal implications, but all of them are spoken of, at least in English, as forms of killing, even if the manner is accidental. Three broad categories are defined: 1. Accidental death -- الموت قضاء وقدراً: This is death due to circumstances beyond human control, such as a flooding, an earthquake, an air crash due to severe weather or unanticipated mechanical failure, a sport injury, etc. Notice that although all deaths may be said to fall under God\'s will, the expression قضاء و قدر is reserved in legal language to causes beyond human control. 2. Suicide -- انتحار: This is self-killing. Notice that we do not call it قتل النفس in Arabic, because the usual implication of النفس is any human life, not necessarily one\'s own. As human language is a social phenomenon, the use of terms must consider not only the lexical definitions, but also the common assumptions. 3. Homicide -- قتل النفس: This is death due to the action or inaction (failure to act) of another human being. Legally, such acts fall into two categories: A. Lawful Killing -- قتل النفس بالحق: This category includes acts of war (other than war crimes), acts of law enforcement, capital punishment, self-defense, and (in some countries) euthenasia and/or abortion. B. Wrongful Killing -- قتل النفس بغير حق: This is death caused by unlawful action or inaction of another human being. Generally, two subcategories are distinguished: - Murder -- قتل عمد بنية سوء ودون اسـتفزاز: I have not been able to locate a standard succinct Arabic expression that fits this category. The Arabic I provided here is merely a statement of the elements of murder, namely that it is willful, malicious, and without adequate provocation. Different legal systems may distinguish different degrees of murder (first degree, second degree, etc.). Various elements are considered here, including premeditation الإصرار والترصُّد. - Manslaughter -- Notice that etymologically, the word has the same elements as \"homicide,\" and therefore may be translated as قتل النفس, except that it does not mean the same thing. Homicide can be lawful or unlawful, while manslaughter is always unlawful. We cannot simply call it قتل النفس بغير حق because that would encompass all forms of unlawful killing, including murder. The difference between murder and manslaughter is that manslaughter is either a response to adequate provocation (but still unlawful) or lacks intent (but still not accidental because it involves an element of criminality). Depending on these variables, manslaughter is called voluntary or involuntary: Voluntary manslaughter -- قتل عمد is when death is willfully carried out with no legal justification, but with adequate provocation, such as threat or injury to body, honor, or livelihood. Involuntary manslaughter قتل خطأ is unintentional killing either due to negligence or as a consequence of another crime not involving the intent to kill or to cause bodily harm (such as arson resulting in death, when only destruction of property was intended). Notice that some people use the expression قتل خطأ in reference to accidental death, as when a surgeon accidentally injures a patient\'s aorta, causing a lethal hemorrhage despite all reasonable precautions taken. This should not be called قتل خطأ, but should be called قضاء وقدر The question that follows is: Where does \"wrongful death\" fall into this scheme? The truth is that it does not fit at all. The expression \"wrongful death\" is used in civil lawsuits filed for the purpose of collecting monetary damages whenever death is determined to be unlawfully (wrongfully) caused. It is not synonymous with \"wrongful killing,\" because its context and intent has a different focus altogether.
| Fuad Yahya Works in field Native speaker of: Arabic, English PRO pts in category: 213
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