Salafi preachers Mohamed Hassan and Mohamed Abdel Maqsoud issued a fatwa (religious edict) on Thursday saying that families of martyrs killed during the 25 January revolution may accept blood money compensation and forgive the killers.
The fatwa, which was delivered during a talk show on Al-Rahma TV, a prominent Salafi channel, has caused controversy among religious scholars.
The preachers said each family should receive LE500,000 to be paid from the money that the former regime stole, as they put it.
“The shootings were not necessarily premeditated,” said Abdel Maqsoud. “It could have been a policeman defending himself.”
Hassan said he wants to put an end to the issue instead of dragging it out without resolution.
Mohamed Raafat Othman, a member of the Islamic Research Academy, the Al-Azhar body in charge of handing down fatwas, rejected the fatwa. “It is up to the families to decide if they accept the money,” Othman told al-Masry al-Youm.
“Retribution comes before blood money,” he said, adding that the blood money owed is estimated at 100 camels.
In July, three families of those killed during the revolution accused some Salafi leaders of urging them not to sue the policemen who killed their loved ones.
On a talk show on the privately-owned channel ONTV, members of victims’ families demanded speedy trials and retaliation against the policemen who killed their relatives during the revolution.
Families of victims of the 25 January revolution who accept blood money in return for dropping their cases against police pose an emerging threat to the revolution, critics say.
Translated from Al-Masry Al-Youm
