He says, “I work as a car driver, and one day I collided with three non-Muslims, but I hid myself until a person stepped forward on my behalf and settled the case.”
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The questioner : He says, “I work as a car driver, and one day I collided with three non-Muslims, but I hid myself until a person stepped forward on my behalf and settled the case by granting forgiveness without paying a fine or blood money. Is there anything required of me in this? Is an expiation of fasting obligatory for me or not? And if it is obligatory, do I have to fast sixty consecutive days for each of them, or is one expiation for all of them sufficient?”
The Shaykh : If these people who are non-Muslims have a covenant and treaty with you, then Allah the Exalted says in the Qur'an:[An-Nisa 4:92] Therefore, you are required to perform an expiation for their killing, as stated by the scholars.
The questioner : Yes.
The Shaykh : The expiation is freeing a slave, and if you do not find one, then fasting for two consecutive months. You are required to perform an expiation for each one of them. Accordingly, you fast for six months, with each two-month period being consecutive. It is not required that all six months be consecutive. It is permissible for you to fast two consecutive months, then take a rest if you need it, then resume for another two months, then take a rest, then resume for another two months.
As for if they were hostile non-Muslims who are not protected, then you are not required to perform an expiation for their killing.
The questioner : Yes.
The Shaykh : Yes.
The Shaykh : If these people who are non-Muslims have a covenant and treaty with you, then Allah the Exalted says in the Qur'an:
and if he was from a people with whom you have a treaty - then a compensation payment presented to his family and the freeing of a believing slave
وَإِنْ كَانَ مِنْ قَوْمٍ بَيْنَكُمْ وَبَيْنَهُمْ مِيثَاقٌ فَدِيَةٌ مُسَلَّمَةٌ إِلَى أَهْلِهِ وَتَحْرِيرُ رَقَبَةٍ مُؤْمِنَةٍThe questioner : Yes.
The Shaykh : The expiation is freeing a slave, and if you do not find one, then fasting for two consecutive months. You are required to perform an expiation for each one of them. Accordingly, you fast for six months, with each two-month period being consecutive. It is not required that all six months be consecutive. It is permissible for you to fast two consecutive months, then take a rest if you need it, then resume for another two months, then take a rest, then resume for another two months.
As for if they were hostile non-Muslims who are not protected, then you are not required to perform an expiation for their killing.
The questioner : Yes.
The Shaykh : Yes.