When we hear or read about a person who has pardoned his son's or father's killer for SR10 or SR20 million, we should realize that this by all means cannot be called a pardon. It's wrong to call it that. We should not be fooled into believing that the pardoner has done so for the sake of Allah or in response to the intermission of dignitary figures in the tribe. Those who demand blood money, and in some cases demand triple and quadruple the amount set by Shariah should not be called pardoners. A pardon can be called as such when the affected person forgives the killer of his beloved one and does not take blood money at the same time only for the only sake of Allah. It seems that some people consider blood money a business, especially in light of the huge amounts reported to have been paid to affected families. There is a clear difference between a person who forgives and pardons on condition of receiving millions in blood money and a person who does that for the sake of Allah only. Readers must understand that the news glorifies and praises the pardoner although millions have been paid in blood money.
It appears that the virtue of forgiveness and pardoning no longer exist and have been replaced by greed. In the past, our society used to refuse to take any blood money because money will never compensate the affected person for the loss of his loved one. There were to choices: either to demand that the killer be beheaded or pardon the killer. The business of blood money has spread to many groups in our society at the expense of good principles and values, which used to be prevalent in our society. Still, some believe that our society is a virtuous one, which is based on the value of forgiveness and is keen to achieve justice and righteousness. How can those think like that when the society lost some of its greatest values, which we used to brag about in the past?
