Expiation for Unintentional Killing

This is a message from a listener who did not wish to give her name. In this message, there is a case involving the death of a four-month-old baby girl. She says: “She was sleeping next to her sister, and it is my custom to take her to her bed every night so that she is not next to me or next to her older sister. But on this day, I was exhausted and tired, so I fell asleep and left her next to her sister. I woke up to find her wrapped in the blanket, dead, and her body had turned blue. Now her father is threatening me, saying: ‘You killed her through your negligence.’ In truth, I am very careful and always take her with me everywhere; I do not leave her alone. But Allah willed it, and what Allah willed, He did.”
Now I want to know if I have to fast for two months. By Allah, I am suffering from anemia and I am pregnant. If there is a ransom payment in the form of freeing a slave, how can I do that when I am poor? And if there is feeding sixty poor people, how can I do that when I am also poor? Please advise us, may Allah reward you.
Answer: As long as the situation is as you described, you owe nothing. This is because you did not intend to kill her, nor did you cause her death. As long as you did not sleep on her or place something on her that would kill her, and she died from something you do not know, you owe nothing.
However, if you know something that caused her death, such as placing a heavy object on her that covered her until she died, then the expiation is upon you. It is freeing a male or female slave. If that is not feasible, you must fast for two consecutive months.
As for if you do not know, and when you woke up you found her dead, you owe nothing. This is because the expiation is not obligatory based on mere doubt, suspicion, or accusation. There must be a definite matter. You must fear Allah (Exalted and Majestic is He) and be mindful of Him. If you know that you caused her death, for example, by sleeping on her or placing a heavy object on her, meaning a heavy blanket that pressed her face and cut off her breath, then the expiation is upon you. Yes.
And the blood money is also upon you. Yes.
The presenter: May Allah reward you. Regarding the feeding of sixty poor people mentioned by the asking sister, is this applicable in the expiation for killing, Your Eminence?
Answer: No, there is only fasting and freeing a slave. As for feeding, there is no feeding in this case. Feeding is in the expiation for zihar and in the expiation for intercourse during Ramadan. As for killing, there are only two things: freeing a slave if one is able, and if one is unable, fasting for two consecutive months.
Unintentional killing, that is. Yes.
The presenter: And if one is unable?
The Shaykh: It remains a debt upon him until Allah makes it easy for him to be able to pay.
The presenter: Can his guardian fast on his behalf if he dies while it is still a debt upon him?
The Shaykh: If he dies. Yes.
The presenter: May Allah reward you.