An expiation is like a debt

His statement, “An expiation is like a debt,” means that if a person becomes liable for an expiation that reduces his wealth below the nisab, then no zakah is due on what he possesses. This is because an expiation is like a debt—indeed, it is a debt, except that its creditor is Allah, the Mighty and Majestic.

For example, a man possesses three hundred sa‘ of grain, but he is required to feed sixty needy persons, which obliges him to give thirty sa‘, if we hold that each sa‘ is sufficient for two persons. Accordingly, no zakah is due on the three hundred sa‘, because he owes an expiation that reduces the wealth below the nisab.

If someone were to ask: What is the evidence that an expiation, although it is a right due to Allah, is like a debt owed to another person?

We say: The evidence is that a woman asked the Prophet ﷺ about her mother, who had vowed to perform Hajj but did not do so before she died. He said to her: “What do you think: if your mother had owed a debt, would you have paid it?” She replied, “Yes.” He then said: “Fulfil what is due to Allah, for Allah is more deserving that His due be fulfilled.” (1) Thus, he treated the right of Allah, like the right of a human being, as a debt that is to be paid.

The reason the author, may Allah have mercy on him, specifically mentioned this issue, although it falls under the preceding one, is that there is disagreement concerning it even among those who hold that a debt prevents zakah from becoming obligatory when it reduces the wealth below the nisab. Some scholars distinguish between an expiation and a debt with regard to preventing zakah from being due when it reduces the wealth below the nisab. They argue that an expiation is a right due to Allah, the Exalted, connected to one’s legal liability, whereas zakah is a right due to Allah, the Exalted, connected both to one’s wealth and to one’s legal liability; and that which is connected to both wealth and legal liability deserves greater consideration. However, the established position of the school is that the two are alike.