“…but if a person forgives and makes reconciliation, his reward is due from God…” (Qur'an, 42:40). In compliance with this verse, there are people who forgive for the sake of Allah without expecting anything in return. It is also due to their belief that losing a loved one cannot be compensated by the money of the whole world nor its treasures. Such people seek reward only from Allah Almighty. On the other hand, there are people who pardon for the sake of Allah as well, but it is pardon on the condition that they be paid millions of riyals in return. Sometimes the conditions are too difficult to fulfill. As a result, over 150 beheading cases are awaiting mediation (wasta) and the victim's family to drop their case. However, the family insists that beheading be carried out or blood money be paid in millions. Due to this condition, the issue of forgiving people sentenced to beheading has become more materialistic at the expense of values, to the extent that it has spoiled the aspect of society that calls for forgiveness and mercy. It has also distorted the image of people setting a good example and forgiving for the sake of Allah even if with some financial or moral return. Therefore, forgiving has now become “pardon for the sake of money” to the extent that the issue has become a trade in which lives are bought and sold. Several people concerned with this issue have been interviewed regarding this problem, which is depriving a considerable number of people of sleep and is delaying saving the life of a person sentenced to beheading. Millions to save a man's neck There are many stories of people who demand astronomical amounts as blood money. An example is Waheed's case which is pending until he pays SR2 million, the amount demanded by the family of the victim for them to drop the demand. Waheed's mother said, “Since my son's imprisonment, life has become tasteless. We faced great hardships for seven years until we were able recently to collect the blood money from philanthropists so that the family of the dead man would drop their demand for beheading my son.” In one of the remote villages of the Madina region, SR5 million saved the neck of a 70-year-old Saudi man. He was accused of shooting down another Saudi national and he languished in prison for 14 years, waiting for the children of the victim to reach legal age. The children pardoned him on condition that he pay the amount. In another case, the family of the killer offered SR20 million to the victim's family in return for dropping their demand for beheading, but they are still refusing this blood money and insisting on beheading. In yet another case, the father of a juvenile who was killed is demanding SR1.8 million before he drops his case against three juveniles, aged between 16 and 18 years, accused of murder. They are still languishing in prison while their families are helpless and in a quandary as to how to secure the amount. Meanwhile, the courts are witnessing other stories wherein many drop their demand for beheading in murder cases without getting any blood money. They relinquish their cases purely for the sake of Allah. Endowment Sheikh Dr. Ali Al-Malki, who is concerned with securing pardon for people sentenced to beheading and adviser to Col. Pilot Prince Turki Bin Abdullah Bin Abdulaziz, appealed for the establishment of a society that will be an endowment to contribute, help and mediate in saving the lives of persons sentenced to beheading. The society would bear the name of the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques or his parents, and will have princes, sheikhs, businessmen and philanthropists as its members to work as an official body according to a specific method. The society will strive to convince the family of the deceased to drop their demand for beheading in cases to be studied by the society. Al-Malki said that in this way, it will be possible to stop those who are trading in people's lives and making huge profits through mediation in such cases, as such mediators demand large amounts. __
