Explanation of the author's statement: "Even if the wealth is apparent and the expiation is like a debt."

The Shaykh : Then he said "Even if the wealth is apparent". The word "even if" indicates a difference of opinion. Pay attention to the custom of the authors, may Allah have mercy on them: when they use "even if," the difference of opinion is usually strong. When they use "even if," the difference of opinion is usually strong. When they use "until," the difference of opinion is usually weak, but there is a difference. When they use a negation, saying for example "such and such is not a condition," this indicates that there is a difference of opinion, which may be weak or strong. However, they cannot use such an expression as "such and such is not a condition" unless there is a difference of opinion regarding the condition, because if there were no difference, there would be no need to negate it. There is no need to negate it, because not mentioning it means negating it... They say, "Five conditions are required for zakah, and such and such is not a condition." This means that some scholars mentioned that this is one of the conditions; otherwise, there would be no need to negate it, because not mentioning it among the conditions negates its being a condition. So, if you see in the words of scholars, after they mention the conditions or the obligations, that they say "such and such is not a condition" or "such and such is not obligatory", know that there is a difference of opinion in the issue. Yes.
"Even if the wealth... and the expiation is like a debt". "The expiation is like a debt"... This means that if an expiation becomes obligatory upon a person that reduces the nisab, then there is no zakah on what he has, because zakah is like a debt, or rather it is a debt, but the creditor in it is Allah, Mighty and Majestic. An example of this is a man who has two hundred and ninety-seven sa'—I do not mean... of the sa'. A man has three hundred sa'. How much is three hundred sa'? Is it the nisab or not? I tell you that three hundred sa' is the nisab of grains. Three hundred sa' of grains is the nisab. So a man who has three hundred sa' of grains has zakah due on it, but he has to feed sixty poor people. Sixty poor people require thirty sa' if we say that each sa' is for two people. Does this mean the nisab is reduced or not? He has no zakah due on him, so he has no zakah on the three hundred sa'. Why?
The attendees: ...

The Shaykh : Because he has an expiation that reduces the nisab. If someone asks, "What is the evidence that the expiation, which is a right of Allah, is like a human debt?" The evidence is that a woman asked the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) about her mother, who had vowed to perform Hajj but did not perform it until she died. He said to her: He made the right of Allah like the right of a human being, making it a debt that is to be paid.