that prohibited act is due from him, but he incurs no sin because of the need. An example is shaving the hair of the head to remove harm, as Allah Most High explicitly states in the Quran:

“And whoever among you is ill or has an ailment of the head, then a ransom is due: fasting, charity, or sacrifice.” [al-Baqarah 2:196]

Likewise, if a person in the state of consecration needs to wear tailored clothing because of severe cold, and so wears an undershirt or a shirt, he must offer the expiation. This is rare, but it may sometimes occur.

Another case of need is that of soldiers who need to wear their official uniform. This is a need connected to the welfare of all the pilgrims, for if a soldier were to work without his official uniform, people would not obey him and disorder would result. But when he wears his official uniform, he commands respect.

But must he offer an expiation or not? That is, there is—Allah willing—no difficulty in our view regarding the permissibility of wearing it, since need or necessity calls for it. But must he offer an expiation?

The answer is that we may say: no expiation is due from him, because he is engaged in serving the interests of the pilgrims. The Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, exempted the shepherds from spending the nights [at Mina] (1), although spending the nights at Mina is one of the obligatory rites of Hajj; he exempted them for the benefit of the pilgrims. He also granted al-Abbas permission to spend the night in Mecca because of providing water for the pilgrims (2). Providing water for the pilgrims is a lesser need than preserving security and organizing the people. Thus, it is possible that no expiation is due from him, especially since