Mentioning the Prohibitions of Ihram

The Shaykh : In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful. Before we begin, we will now explain the prohibitions of ihram. They are well known to jurists, and there is no need to list them, but these prohibitions are divided into four categories: a category in which there is no expiation at all; a second category in which there is a penalty, meaning it is not a specific expiation but a penalty; a third category in which the expiation is a camel; and a fourth category in which the expiation is the choice between fasting for three days, feeding six poor people, or slaughtering a sheep. These are the categories of the prohibitions. As for what has no expiation, it is the marriage contract. The marriage contract is forbidden, but the jurists say that there is no expiation for it. As for what the penalty covers, it is hunting. Allah the Exalted said: meaning that he must pay a penalty equivalent to what he killed from livestock. As for what the expiation is a camel for, it is sexual intercourse during Hajj before the first tahallul. As for what the expiation is the choice for, it is the remaining prohibitions, and this expiation is called the expiation of harm, taken from the saying of Allah the Exalted: So memorize these guidelines so that you know. What remains is: is there evidence for this classification? We say: there is a detail. As for the marriage contract, which has no expiation, there is evidence for it, which is that the original state is the purity of the conscience, and the Sunnah indicated that it is forbidden, but it did not come with an expiation for it. This is it. So is its evidence negative or positive?
The students: Negative.

The Shaykh : Negative. As for what the penalty covers, it is established by the Qur'an and the Sunnah. As for what the expiation is a camel for, this did not come in the Book or the Sunnah, but the Companions (may Allah be pleased with them) nearly agreed upon it, and it is sexual intercourse during Hajj before the first tahallul. As for the fourth, what the expiation is the choice for, is there evidence for it? We say: As for shaving the head, there is evidence by the explicit text of the Qur'an: The remaining prohibitions that have this expiation are by analogy to shaving the head. And there is a point of concern regarding this analogy. The point of concern is that shaving the head is forbidden only because it is related to a ritual act, for shaving is obligatory among the obligations of Hajj. If the person in ihram shaved, this obligation would be dropped. Therefore, Allah the Exalted ordered or made obligatory the expiation in it. And this is agreed upon: As for what is analogized to it, there is a point of concern in it, because it is not related to a ritual act. The reasoning that shaving the head is forbidden because it is a form of comfort is a defective reasoning, because comfort in ihram is not forbidden. Is it not the case that the person in ihram takes a bath? He takes a bath and wears beautiful ihram clothes, and it is permissible for him to remain in air-conditioned rooms, travel in air-conditioned cars, and sit in soft tents. All of this is comfort. So whoever says that the cause is comfort needs to prove this. Then, some of the prohibitions that they attached to shaving the head involve comfort, and some do not involve comfort, so the cause is refuted. For this reason, we say: there is no expiation except in what came in the Qur'an or the Sunnah. Otherwise, we do not have the right to oblige the servants of Allah to waste something of their wealth or to spend something of their wealth without evidence. And as you see, this is a strong reasoning from which there is no escape. Just as it is not permissible for us to drop what Allah made obligatory, such as the penalty for hunting, it is not permissible for us to oblige what Allah did not oblige, such as wearing a shirt or a turban, and the like. But if someone says: since the majority of scholars are on this, and it protects these prohibitions from the pilgrims daring to violate them, is not the opinion that it is correct? The answer is: yes, the opinion that it is correct is valid, and the Shari'ah may destroy wealth as a discretionary punishment. The one who takes more than his share of war spoils has his camp and what is with him burned, and this is destruction. And the one who conceals lost property is obliged to pay its value twice as a deterrent. And the one who steals a date or a cucumber has the value doubled upon him. So discretionary punishment by wealth, or protecting the inviolable by wealth, is a matter that the Sunnah came with. So we can say to people: whoever does any of these prohibitions, he has an expiation. And likewise in the marriage contract, the expiation is required, unless there is consensus on its absence. The consensus is agreed upon, and otherwise, without consensus, we say there is no difference between it and the prohibitions. Is that clear? So we are discussing this issue, the issue of the expiation in the prohibitions, from two angles:
The first angle: from the theoretical side, if we speak about it from the theoretical side, O Waleed. As for the theoretical side, we do not see evidence for making it obligatory except what the evidence brought. As for the educational side and protecting the pilgrims from violating the prohibitions, especially since most scholars are on this principle, it is permissible for us to issue fatwas to people about the obligation of the expiation. And praise be to Allah, the expiation is not difficult. What is it? Fasting for three days, either separate or consecutive, in Makkah or in his country. Feeding six poor people, for each poor person half a sa' (a dry measure of about 3 kg). This is also easy. How much is that in sa' (a dry measure of about 3 kg)? Three sa' (a dry measure of about 3 kg). It is easy. Slaughtering a sheep, meaning there is no difficulty in it. But if you say to the common person: you have an expiation, he will be afraid to do the prohibitions, even if they are few. But if you say: you have nothing on you except repentance and seeking forgiveness, he will fill the atmosphere of Makkah, Jeddah, and Ta'if with seeking forgiveness, but you do not take a single qirsh from him, do you? Therefore, when a common person from the common people was found...