I performed the obligatory Hajj last year, and before performing the obligation on the sixth day of Dhul Hijjah, I trimmed my fingernails. Do I owe an expiation, knowing that I did not have knowledge of this?

The questioner : I performed the obligatory Hajj last year, and before performing the obligation on the sixth day of Dhul Hijjah, I trimmed my fingernails. Do I owe an expiation, knowing that I did not have knowledge of this?

The Shaykh : You do not owe an expiation, nor is there any sin on you, because you were ignorant and did not know. Let it be known that there is a legal principle in the Book of Allah, Mighty and Majestic, which Allah, Blessed and Exalted is He, has affirmed. It is the lifting of accountability for sin from one who is ignorant or forgetful. This is in the saying of Allah, Blessed and Exalted is He: So Allah the Exalted said: meaning that accountability for forgetfulness and error is lifted from us. This is general for all prohibitions of the consecrated state of pilgrimage, all prohibitions of prayer, and all prohibitions of fasting. Whoever commits a prohibition in these acts of worship out of forgetfulness or ignorance is not held accountable for it; there is no sin on him, no expiation, and no ransom payment. Apply this to all prohibitions of acts of worship. If a person speaks in prayer while ignorant, his prayer is valid. If he eats or drinks while ignorant, his fast is valid. If he performs cupping while fasting, thinking that cupping does not break the fast, his fast is valid. If he breaks his fast before the sun sets, thinking it has set when it has not, his fast is valid. The important thing is that this is a principle from Allah, not from the book of so-and-so or so-and-so; it is a principle from Allah, Mighty and Majestic, for His servants. So Allah the Exalted said: .

The questioner : May Allah reward you with good.