Permissibility of freeing a slave with the help of another as Kaffarah for involuntary manslaughter


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Q 1: I am a young man who had a car accident, as I hit a person causing his death. It was an unintentional accident. My maternal uncle works as a lecturer at the Faculty of Education. One of his friends is the head of one of the faculty departments and the head of the Islamic Relief Organization in the region where I live. This person said that he knows a professor in Imam Muhammad ibn Su`ud Islamic University in Riyadh, who works in the Faculty of Da`wah (calling to Allah); and he praised his honesty. This professor said that he would help us in this matter for the sake of Allah (Glorified and Exalted be He) by taking the amount of money required for freeing a slave, which is ten thousand Saudi riyals, and sending it to another reliable person in Mauritania to use it for setting a slave free. I, thus, deposited the required sum of money in his bank account, as he lives very far away from me, then I asked another reliable person about this professor to be certain of his honesty which was (Part No. 21; Page No. 315) confirmed. I am asking whether I am now free from the obligation of setting a slave free.


A: If it is proven to you that there are slaves and you freed one of them as a Kaffarah (expiation), whether you freed them yourself or by another Muslim whom you trust, then there is nothing else for you to do and you are free from blame. Praise is due to Allah. It is worth mentioning that the Kaffarah of involuntary manslaughter is to free a believing slave; and if you cannot afford this, you should fast for two consecutive months. The Kaffarah in this case does not involve feeding poor people.




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