Blood money, or diya, as defined by the Kingdom's Shariah law stands at SR300,000 for manslaughter and SR400,000 for murder, but in reality the family of the murder convict ends up paying millions to blood money brokers.

Mefleh Al-Qahtani, chairman of the Human Rights Commission, described those brokers as having no conscience. According to the activist, religious scholars have warned against this phenomenon which is on the rise, because it closes the door to possible reconciliations and amnesty. Sheikh Abdullah bin Manie’, member of the Higher Council of Scholars and adviser to the Royal Court, said blood money for murder shouldn’t be paid from zakat money.

A royal decree issued in 2002 stipulated that any payment exceeding SR500,000 is excessive.

Lawyer Abdulrahman Baamer said blood money shouldn't exceed the limits set by the Shariah as defined in the Sunnah, where it is termed as manslaughter. The monetary value of this amnesty is estimated by the guardian, and depends on time and the economic situation of the family of the perpetrators, but some demand large amounts of money for murder regardless of the family's financial status.

According to activists, this procedure that was meant to be a deterrent for the killer, has become a punishment for the family because the murderer doesn't bear the costs of the blood money, and huge amounts are gathered to save the perpetrator from execution.

The victim's relatives have the right to choose between punishing the killer, give him amnesty or accept blood money. They also have the right to decrease or increase the amount of money, but dramatic increases conflict with the Shariah and the teachings of Qura'n and Sunnah, experts argue.

Large amounts of blood money can only be canceled by the guardian, who gives judges the rights to define a maximum limit for blood money, so as to maintain the dignity of the killer’s family.

Lawyer and legal adviser Mohammad Hamza Al-Madani said increasing this amnesty money degrades the killer’s family into begging, which contradicts the teachings of Islam. Al-Madani contends that religion doesn’t accept the appearance of women in the media asking for help to pay million of riyals in order to save their children from punishment. “I am not exaggerating when I say some people take blood money as a means to make profit. Scholars said exaggerating the amount of money puts families of killers in great difficulties. People overlook the fact that the Shariah defined this method to prevent conflict, and didn’t leave it to people’s estimations,” the lawyer stated.