Chapter on Expiation: One is given the choice, as expiation for shaving, clipping nails, covering the head, applying perfume, and wearing sewn clothing, between fasting for three days or feeding six poor people, with each poor person receiving a mudd of wheat.
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The Shaykh : Then the author said: "Chapter on Expiation". Expiation is what is given in exchange for something. This includes the ransom for a prisoner of war, where we give something and then release him. So, any amount given in exchange for something is an expiation. Expiations are categorized; indeed, we should say that the prohibitions of ihram are divided into four categories. The prohibitions of ihram, in terms of expiation, are divided into four categories:
The first: That for which there is no expiation, which is the marriage contract.
The second: That for which the expiation is severe, which is sexual intercourse during Hajj before the first tahallul.
The third: That for which the expiation is the penalty or its substitute, which is killing game.
The fourth: That for which the expiation is the expiation for harm, which is the remaining prohibitions.
This division is comprehensive and relieves the student of knowledge. There are four categories.
The first: That for which there is no expiation.
The second: That for which the expiation is severe.
The third: That for which the expiation is its penalty or its substitute.
The fourth: That for which the expiation is the expiation for harm. The expiation for harm is feeding six poor people, with each poor person receiving half a sa', or fasting for three consecutive or non-consecutive days, or slaughtering a sheep that is slaughtered and distributed to the poor. This is the expiation for harm, derived from the saying of Allah the Exalted:[Al-Baqarah 2:196]
The author clarified this, but not in the form of a division and restriction. "Yukhayyar" is a present tense verb, passive in form, and the implied subject refers to whom? It refers to the person in ihram who committed a prohibited act. The implied meaning is: The person in ihram is given the choice, if he commits a prohibited act from these types, to choose between an expiation for shaving—shaving what? Shaving the hair of the head or otherwise, according to the school of thought—or clipping nails, clipping the nails of the hands and feet, and covering the head, and perfume. He is given the choice among these four, between fasting for three days, or feeding six poor people, with each poor person receiving a mudd of wheat, or half a sa' of dates or barley, or slaughtering a sheep.
The questioner : ... .
The Shaykh : What we have here is shaving, clipping nails, covering the head, and perfume. We do not have... In any case, you now know the first division, the first categories. Wearing sewn clothing, which of the four categories does it fall into?
The questioner : The fourth.
The Shaykh : In the end, the expiation for harm is between fasting for three days, which is one, or feeding six poor people, which is two, or slaughtering a sheep, which is three. The evidence for this expiation, in general, is the saying of Allah the Exalted:[Al-Baqarah 2:196] Fasting is general and Allah the Mighty and Majestic did not specify it, but His Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) specified it. Or charity, which is also general, but the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) specified it. Or a sacrifice, which is specified, because the sacrifice is the slaughtered animal. The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) specified fasting as three days, and feeding as feeding six poor people, with each poor person receiving half a sa'. The sa' is for one day, because six poor people, each receiving half a sa', how much is that? Three sa'as. Each sa' is for one day. This is contrary to the other expiations. In the other expiations, feeding a poor person is for one day. In zihar, how much is the fasting? Two consecutive months, and feeding sixty poor people. It is common that two months are sixty days. And so it is in the expiation for intercourse in Ramadan. But this is contrary to the other expiations. And the author's saying: "for each poor person a mudd of wheat, or half a sa' of dates or barley". The apparent meaning of the author's words is that the expiation in food is restricted to these three types: wheat, dates, and barley. This is not intended, because what is intended is what people eat, whether dates, barley, wheat, rice, corn, or otherwise. But the author here distinguished between wheat and non-wheat. Wheat is a mudd, and non-wheat is half a sa'. And a mudd is half a sa'. That means the sa' of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) is four mudds, half of which is two mudds. So the author (may Allah have mercy on him) distinguished between wheat and others, but he did not distinguish between wheat and others in the chapter of zakat al-fitr. Look at it in the chapter of zakat al-fitr: a sa' of wheat, or a sa' of dates, or barley, or anything else that is eaten and comes out of it. And here he distinguished. The jurists (may Allah have mercy on them) distinguish between wheat and others in all expiations and ransoms, except in zakat al-fitr. Therefore, Shaykh al-Islam Ibn Taymiyyah (may Allah have mercy on him) applied the rule and said: Wheat is half of the others. So in zakat al-fitr, it is half a sa' according to Shaykh al-Islam. But our school is the school of Abu Sa'id al-Khudri (may Allah be pleased with him). When Mu'awiyah came to Medina, he said: "I see that a mudd of this is equal to two mudds of barley". Abu Sa'id said: "As for me, I will not stop giving it out as I used to give it out, as I used to give it out in the time of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him)". And we say as Abu Sa'id (may Allah be pleased with him) said. In this issue, the author distinguished between wheat and others, saying: From wheat, how much is a mudd? That is a quarter of a sa'. And from others, half a sa'. Even though the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said to Ka'b ibn 'Ujrah: Sahih al-Bukhari 1816 So he specified the amount and generalized the type. So the apparent meaning of the hadith is that the expiation is half a sa' for each poor person, whether from wheat or from others. And this is the correct view, because the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) specified the amount and generalized the type. So we say that the author's statement of "a mudd of wheat" is weak, and the correct view is half a sa' of wheat and non-wheat. So the sa'as, Ahmad, how much is that? Three sa'as. And that is the case.
The first: That for which there is no expiation, which is the marriage contract.
The second: That for which the expiation is severe, which is sexual intercourse during Hajj before the first tahallul.
The third: That for which the expiation is the penalty or its substitute, which is killing game.
The fourth: That for which the expiation is the expiation for harm, which is the remaining prohibitions.
This division is comprehensive and relieves the student of knowledge. There are four categories.
The first: That for which there is no expiation.
The second: That for which the expiation is severe.
The third: That for which the expiation is its penalty or its substitute.
The fourth: That for which the expiation is the expiation for harm. The expiation for harm is feeding six poor people, with each poor person receiving half a sa', or fasting for three consecutive or non-consecutive days, or slaughtering a sheep that is slaughtered and distributed to the poor. This is the expiation for harm, derived from the saying of Allah the Exalted:
And whoever among you is ill or has an ailment of the head [making shaving necessary must offer] a ransom of fasting [three days] or charity or sacrifice
فمن كان منكم مريضاً أو به أذىً من رأسه ففدية من صيام أو صدقة أو نسكThe author clarified this, but not in the form of a division and restriction. "Yukhayyar" is a present tense verb, passive in form, and the implied subject refers to whom? It refers to the person in ihram who committed a prohibited act. The implied meaning is: The person in ihram is given the choice, if he commits a prohibited act from these types, to choose between an expiation for shaving—shaving what? Shaving the hair of the head or otherwise, according to the school of thought—or clipping nails, clipping the nails of the hands and feet, and covering the head, and perfume. He is given the choice among these four, between fasting for three days, or feeding six poor people, with each poor person receiving a mudd of wheat, or half a sa' of dates or barley, or slaughtering a sheep.
The questioner : ... .
The Shaykh : What we have here is shaving, clipping nails, covering the head, and perfume. We do not have... In any case, you now know the first division, the first categories. Wearing sewn clothing, which of the four categories does it fall into?
The questioner : The fourth.
The Shaykh : In the end, the expiation for harm is between fasting for three days, which is one, or feeding six poor people, which is two, or slaughtering a sheep, which is three. The evidence for this expiation, in general, is the saying of Allah the Exalted: