687 - Issue: He said: "And he has the choice; if he wishes, he may offer a substitute, or he may value the substitute in dirhams and see how much food it would buy, then feed every poor person a mudd, or fast for one day for every mudd, regardless of whether he is in straitened or affluent circumstances."

There are four sections in this issue: The first is that the one who kills game is given the choice regarding the atonement among one of these three, whichever he wishes, he may offer as expiation, whether he is affluent or in straitened circumstances. This is the opinion of Malik, al-Shafi'i, and the People of Opinion (Ashab al-Ra'y). There is a second narration from Ahmad stating that it is based on a sequence: the substitute must be offered first, and if he does not find one, he feeds [the poor], and if he does not find [food], he fasts. This has been narrated from Ibn Abbas and al-Thawri, because the hady (sacrificial offering) for mut'a (temporary enjoyment) is based on a sequence, and this is more emphatic than that because it is for the commission of a forbidden act. There is a third narration from him that there is no feeding in the atonement, and it was only mentioned in the verse to make the fasting equivalent to it, because whoever is capable of feeding is capable of slaughtering. This is what Ibn Abbas said, and it is the opinion of al-Sha'bi and Abu Iyad. Our position is the statement of Allah Almighty: "...a sacrificial offering brought to the Kaaba, or an atonement consisting of feeding the poor, or the equivalent of that in fasting." The word "or" (aw) in the command denotes a choice (takhyeer). It has been narrated from Ibn Abbas that he said: "Everything that uses 'or' implies a choice." As for that which states "if it is not found," then it follows a sequence. Also, because linking these options to one another with "or" makes one free to choose [among all of them, like the ransom for injury (fidyat al-adha) and the expiation for an oath. And because it is a ransom made obligatory by the commission of a forbidden act, he is free to choose] among the three, like the ransom for injury. Allah has called the food an "atonement," and it cannot be an atonement unless its distribution is mandatory, and making it food for the poor, and that which...