How Should One Give an Expiation (Kaffara) Living in the West?
Hanafi Fiqh
Answered by Mawlana Ilyas Patel
Question
Almost 2 years ago, I made three oaths by Allah to give up a specific sin and ended up sinning all three times. The oath was made firmly in the heart, and I thought that expiation (kaffara) would be lifted by fasting for three days, so I fasted for three days for each time I broke the vow.
However, I now understand that kaffara won’t be satisfied by fasting for three days. I understand that feeding ten poor Muslims two meals a day or clothing them would suffice for each vow. I wish to ask specific details – Do the Muslims have to be hungry/in need of clothes? Can the equivalent of money be given, and how would that be calculated? Can money be given altogether?
I reside in Australia, and there are no poor Muslims. Can I fast to lift Kaffara here?
Answer
In the Name of Allah, the Most Merciful and Compassionate.
I pray you are in good faith and health. Thank you for your question.
You did correct by fasting three days each time you broke the oath.
It is obligatory to perform expiation (kaffara) upon breaking an oath by:
- Providing decent clothing for ten poor people; or
- Feeding ten poor people two full meals each.
Note: One can choose to do either of the two options above and give the appropriate money in cash instead of doing it in kind. If one does not find needy people in one’s country, the money can be sent abroad, as most people do in the West. - Free a slave (not possible in our times)
- It is only if one is financially unable to do any of the two (1 & 2) above that one can fast for three consecutive days.
With regards to how one determines if one has to pay or fast when making kaffara, one considers one’s state at the time of making the kaffara and not at the time of making the oath or breaking it. Thus, if one wants to make the kaffara now but does not have the financial ability to pay for it, then one must fast instead. If one were to delay making the kaffara until one had the money to pay for it, then one must pay the money instead.
Thus, it is not obligatory to make the kaffara immediately. However, it is better to hasten to make the kaffara, as it is part of one’s religious duty. [‘Ala’ al-Din Ibn ‘Abidin, al-Hadiyya al-‘Ala’iyya; Ibn Nujaym, Bahr al-Ra’iq; Kasani, Bada’i‘ al-Sana’i‘]
The Calculation for the Expiation for a Broken Oath
The expiation (kaffara) for a broken oath is to feed ten poor persons two full meals each, or to provide them with the legal, monetary equivalent of that, or to clothe them in something of decent quality that covers most of their body. The monetary equivalent that is sought is which equates to the market price of approximately two kilograms of wheat. Lower weight values have also been calculated by scholars in the recent past.
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Wassalam,
[Mawlana] Ilyas Patel
Checked and Approved by Shaykh Faraz Rabbani
Mawlana Ilyas Patel is a traditionally trained scholar who has studied in the UK, India, Pakistan, Syria, Jordan, and Turkey. He started his early education in the UK. He went on to complete the hifz of the Quran in India, then enrolled in an Islamic seminary in the UK, where he studied the secular and ‘Aalimiyya sciences. He then traveled to Karachi, Pakistan. He has been an Imam in Rep of Ireland for several years. He has taught hifz of the Quran, Tajwid, Fiqh, and many other Islamic sciences to children and adults onsite and online extensively in the UK and Ireland. He taught at a local Islamic seminary for 12 years in the UK, where he was a librarian and a teacher of Islamic sciences. He currently resides in the UK with his wife. His interest is a love of books and gardening.
