more. Had it been an expiation, the Prophet ﷺ would have asked him, “Do you have sixty people whom you support?” so that the matter could be established. This approach is weak.

According to the madhhab, only two expiations are waived due to incapacity: the expiation for intercourse during menstruation and the expiation for intercourse during Ramadan. The remaining expiations are not waived by incapacity; rather, they remain a liability upon him. For a debt is not waived merely because one is unable to repay it. Consider: if someone is owed money by you and you are unable to pay, his debt is not waived; it remains a liability upon you. The Prophet ﷺ said, “The debt owed to Allah has a greater right to be fulfilled.” (1)

Issue: Whenever the freeing of a slave is mentioned without qualification, faith must be stipulated. This is because Mu'awiyah ibn al-Hakam came to the Prophet ﷺ seeking a ruling concerning a slave-girl at whom he had become angry and whom he had slapped; he wished to set her free. The Messenger ﷺ summoned her and asked, “Where is Allah?” She replied, “Above the heaven.” He said, “Set her free, for she is a believer.” (2) Moreover, freeing an unbelieving slave-woman may result in her going to the unbelievers: once freed, she may go to the lands of disbelief, and there would be no hope that she would embrace Islam.

Issue: There is a difference of opinion over whether the slave to be freed must be free of defects. One view holds that this is a condition, while another holds that nothing is stipulated beyond what Allah has stipulated—namely, faith. Those who stipulate it argue that freeing someone with a defect that clearly impairs his ability to work would make him dependent on others, whereas not freeing him would be better for him.

The matter requires further careful examination, but what appears correct to me is that it is not a condition.