Expiation for Hunting Wild Animals in the State of al-’ Ihram

“I once asked abu ‘ Abd Allah (a.s.), about a man who is in the state of Ihram and he kills an ostrich or a wild donkey. He (the Imam) said, ‘He must pay one badanah.’ I then asked, ‘What happens if he cannot afford?’ He (the Imam) said, ‘He must feed sixty destitute people.’ I asked, ‘What happens if he cannot afford?’ He (the Imam) said, ‘He must fast for eighteen days and charity is one mud (a certain measurement) to every destitute person.’ I then asked about one who in the state of Ihram hunts a cow. He (the Imam) said, ‘He must pay one cow.’ I then asked, ‘What happens if he cannot afford? He (the Imam) said, ‘He must feed thirty destitute people.’ I then asked, ‘What happens if he cannot afford? He (the Imam) said, ‘He must fast nine days.’ I then asked, ‘What happens if he hunts a deer?’ He (the Imam) said, ‘He must pay one sheep.’ I then asked, ‘What happens if he cannot afford?’ He (the Imam) said, ‘He must feed ten destitute people and if he cannot afford this, he must fast three days.’”

“I once asked abu ‘Abd Allah (a.s.), about a man who owes one badanah as obligatory ransom. He (the Imam) said, ‘If he cannot find one badanah, then it is seven sheep; and if he cannot afford then he must fast for eighteen days.’”

“This is about the words of Allah, most Majestic, most Glorious, ‘. . . or equivalent of it fasting.’ (5:95) Abu ‘Abd Allah (a.s.), has said, ‘The offering animal is evaluated with food stuff, then for every mud (a certain measurement) he fasts one day. If the number of mud (a certain measurement) is above the number of days in two months, more than two months fasting is not obligatory on him.’”

“I once asked abu ‘Abd Allah (a.s.), about a man who kills an ostrich. He (the Imam) said, ‘He owes one badanah of camel.’ I then asked about wild donkey. He (the Imam) said, ‘He owes one badanah.’ I then asked about a cow. He (the Imam) said, ‘He owes one cow.’”

“About a man who in the state of Ihram kills an ostrich, abu ‘Abd Allah (a.s.), has said, ‘He must pay one badanah; if he cannot afford then he must feed sixty destitute people.’ He (the Imam) said, ‘If the value of badanah is more than feeding sixty destitute people, it is not obligatory to feed more than sixty; if its value is less than the cost of feeding sixty destitute, he only owes the value of badanah.’”

“About a man who hunts a deer, the arrow hits one of its front legs and it becomes lame. He (the Imam) said, ‘If the deer walks and grazes he must pay one-fourth of its value and if it goes away and no one knows what happened to it, he must pay the ransom because he does not know; perhaps it died.’”

“I once asked abu ‘Abd Allah (a.s.), about a man who kills a fox. He (the Imam) said, ‘He owes one animal offering.’ I asked about his killing a rabbit. He (the Imam) said, ‘It is like what is for a fox.’”

For a rabbit he owes one sheep.’”

“Abu ‘Abd Allah (a.s.), has said, ‘The expiation for killing a Jerboa, a hedgehog and lizard is one goat. The goat is better but it is made obligatory on him as penalty for hunting.’”

“Abu ‘Abd Allah (a.s.), has stated this rule about the following case of hunting. ‘If one in the state of Ihram kills an animal and does not find anything at that place for its expiation, he must evaluate a head of the cattle in terms of dirham. He then must evaluate dirham in terms of foodstuff. He must give half of a Sa‘ (a certain measurement) to every destitute person; and if he cannot afford this also, then he must fast one day for every half Sa‘.’”

“I once asked abu ‘Abd Allah (a.s.), about a man who is involved in hunting matters of the egg of ostrich while in the state of Ihram. He (the Imam) said, ‘He must send male camel on female camel equal to the number of eggs affected.’ I then said, ‘Eggs may all become spoiled or all of them may hatch.’ He (the Imam) said, ‘Whatever the product is, as offering it must reach al- Ka‘bah; and if there is no product one does not owe anything. If one cannot find camels, then for every egg he must pay one sheep; and if one cannot find this also, then one must give charity to ten destitute people, one mud (a certain measurement) to each one and if one cannot afford this also then must fast three days.’”

“I once asked abu Ja‘far (a.s.) about a man who buys ostrich eggs for someone who is in the state of Ihram and he (the man in the state of Ihram) eats it. He (the Imam) said, ‘The one who bought it to the one in the state of Ihram owes ransom, and the one in the state of Ihram owes ransom.’ I then asked, ‘How much?‘ He (the Imam) replied, ‘Upon the person who is not in the state of Ihram is a penalty of the price of the eggs, for each egg being a Dirham; and upon the one in Ihram is the penalty, for each egg being a sheep.’” A number of our people have narrated from Sahl ibn Ziyad from al-Hassan ibn Mahbub from Ali ibn Ri’ab from abu ‘Ubaydah has narrated from a similar Hadith.

“I once asked abu ‘Abd Allah (a.s.), about a man who in the state of Ihram, when passing by takes hold of a deer, draws her milk and drinks it. He (the Imam) said, ‘He owes an animal offering as penalty to offer in al-Haram (the sacred area).”’

“I once asked abu ‘Abd Allah (a.s.), about a man who in the state of Ihram breaks the horn of a deer. He (the Imam) said, ‘He owes a ransom.’ I then asked about his breaking one of its hand (front legs). He (the Imam) said, ‘If he breaks its hand and does not treat it to cure, he owes one sheep.’”