that gathering in which the Prophet ﷺ gave him the legal ruling; thus, at that point he was like one who had the means from the outset. This is why, when he said, “Feed your family with it,” he did not add, “You must offer an expiation if you later become wealthy.”

The stronger view is that it is waived. The same applies, in our view, to all expiations: if a person is unable to fulfill one at the time it becomes obligatory, it is waived for him—either by analogy with the expiation for intercourse during Ramadan, or because it falls under the general import of Allah Most High’s saying: “So fear Allah as much as you are able.” [al-Taghabun 64:16] And: “Allah does not burden a soul beyond what He has given it.” [al-Talaq 65:7]—and similar texts. Accordingly, the expiation for intercourse during menstruation, if we hold that intercourse during menstruation entails an expiation, is likewise waived.

The compensatory offering for harm is waived if one cannot find the means for it and is unable to fast. The same applies to all expiations, based on the evidence we have cited for this issue and on the general principle of legal theory upon which the jurists broadly agree: “There is no obligation in the presence of incapacity.”

Strangely, some scholars adopted an unusual position, saying that the Messenger ﷺ instructed him, “Feed your family with it,” meaning that it was to count as an expiation, not merely as provision for their needs. This is incorrect for two reasons:

First, a person cannot himself be a recipient of his own expiation, just as he cannot be a recipient of his own zakah. Consider a person who possesses money upon which zakah is due but is himself in debt: he cannot use his zakah to pay off his own debt. Likewise, he cannot use his expiation for himself.

Second, the expiation consists of feeding sixty needy people, whereas this man—as appears to be the case, and Allah knows best—had no one besides his wife, or one child, or two children, or