—he may ride in discharging his vow and offer a hady (sacrificial animal) in place of the walking.
Imam Mālik states in al-Muwaṭṭaʾ that when a man becomes unable to continue on foot, he may ride. In al-Mudawwanah it is added that once he has despaired of walking, riding together with a sacrificial animal suffices. Al-Muwaṭṭaʾ also records from Ibn ʿUmar, Saʿīd ibn al-Musayyib, and Abū Salamah that if incapacity overtakes him he may ride and nothing further is required, whereas ʿAṭāʾ holds that a sacrifice alone is due; a like report from Mālik himself is transmitted, and it is likewise the view of Ibn Wahb and Aṣbagh.
Whoever vows a specific hady, or an unspecific hady, is not to slaughter it except in Mecca or at Minā. If someone vows to slaughter a budnah (camel offered in sacrifice) outside Mecca or Minā, then should his purpose be to honor that locality, the vow counts for nothing and he incurs no liability. If that was not his intent, Mālik has two opinions:
- He slaughters it in the place he named and feeds its meat to the poor of that area.
- He slaughters it where he is and does not drive it elsewhere, for sacrificial camels are only to be driven to Mecca or Minā.
One who vows a budnah fulfills the vow only with a thanī (mature) camel; if none is to be found, Mālik gives two further opinions:
- He may slaughter a cow; failing that, seven sheep—each a jadhaʿ of sheep or a thaniyyah of goats. If even that is beyond him, some say no fasting is required, while others obligate a fast.
Among Mālik’s companions those who require fasting differ: some set it at ten days, others at seventy. - The other opinion is that a budnah remains a debt upon him; nothing else will discharge it, whether or not he can presently obtain one.
Whoever merely says, “I am bound to offer a hady,” is governed by his intention: if he specified nothing, it defaults to a budnah. If he cannot procure a budnah, he should postpone it; yet if he is unable and his means are tight, a single sheep will satisfy him. It has also been said that a sheep suffices anyone who vows a hady unless he explicitly intended a cow or a budnah.
Whoever vows to fast tomorrow, or to fast a particular day, and then falls ill is not obliged to make it up; but if he abandons it without excuse, he must make it up. The same applies to whoever vows to fast a named month but