Bab Jinayat al-Muhrim — Ihram Violations and Expiation (Part I)

1. Ihram violations and compensation

An ihram violation is a prohibited act during consecration that can incur prescribed compensation. Al-Quduri first discusses perfume, garments, covering the head, hair removal, and nails; quantity and duration can change the ruling.

This lesson distinguishes an animal offering (dam), a charity payment (sadaqah), and the choices available in excused cases. Intimacy, deficient rites, and hunting follow later in this lengthy chapter.

2. Chapter heading

بَابُ جِنَايَاتِ الْمُحْرِمِ
Translation: Chapter on violations committed by a person in ihram.

Jinayat is the plural of jinayah; here it denotes breaches of ihram restrictions, not necessarily criminal offenses in the modern sense. Al-muhrim means a pilgrim presently in ihram for Hajj or Umrah.

3. Perfume on a complete body member

إِذَا تَطَيَّبَ الْمُحْرِمُ فَعَلَيْهِ الْكَفَّارَةُ، فَإِنْ طَيَّبَ عُضْوًا كَامِلًا فَمَا زَادَ فَعَلَيْهِ دَمٌ
Translation: If a muhrim applies perfume, compensation is due; if he perfumes one entire body member or more, an animal offering is due.

An entire member is a threshold governing the compensation. Perfuming an entire hand, for instance, differs from applying perfume to only part of it. The clause concerns applying perfume, not merely smelling a fragrance in the air.

Dam here is a prescribed compensatory animal offering, not “blood” in its everyday lexical sense.

4. Perfume on less than a member

وَإِنْ طَيَّبَ أَقَلَّ مِنْ عُضْوٍ فَعَلَيْهِ صَدَقَةٌ
Translation: If perfume is applied to less than an entire body member, charity is due.

The phrase less than a member contrasts with the preceding entire-member threshold. Both describe impermissible application, but the prescribed compensation changes.

The governing measure is the portion of the body treated, not simply a casual description such as “a little perfume.” Multiple applications and other details require separate analysis.

5. Comparing the perfume thresholds

First case: perfume on a complete body member: the text prescribes dam.
Second case: perfume on only part of a member: the text prescribes sadaqah.

These are the ordinary unexcused examples. The chapter later gives three alternative forms of expiation for certain prohibitions committed because of a valid excuse; those rules must not be conflated with the ordinary cases.

6. Tailored attire or covering the head

وَإِنْ لَبِسَ ثَوْبًا مَخِيطًا أَوْ غَطَّى رَأْسَهُ يَوْمًا كَامِلًا فَعَلَيْهِ دَمٌ
Translation: If he wears a sewn garment or covers his head for a complete day, an animal offering is due.

This concerns the male muhrim’s prohibited fitted attire and covering of the head. “Sewn” here is a technical juristic expression: not everything with a stitch is forbidden, but the relevant fitted garments worn in the prohibited manner.

Women’s ordinary stitched clothing is not prohibited merely because it is stitched; women have distinct ihram rules. A complete day is the stated duration threshold.

7. Less than the full-day threshold

وَإِنْ كَانَ أَقَلَّ مِنْ ذَلِكَ فَعَلَيْهِ صَدَقَةٌ
Translation: If the duration is less than that, charity is due.

The demonstrative dhalika refers back to the full duration. In the ordinary textbook contrast, if a male muhrim wears the prohibited garment for only part of the stipulated day, the text prescribes sadaqah.

Both duration and the nature of the garment matter. The presence of a stitch in an object is not by itself enough to decide the legal ruling.

8. Male and female dress in ihram

These passages explain male ihram prohibitions concerning specific fitted garments and covering the head. Applying every such rule to women without distinction would be incorrect generalization.

A woman may normally wear modest sewn clothing in ihram; face covering and veils have their own legal details. Here the point is to understand the text’s male clothing restriction and the duration-dependent compensation.

9. Shaving one-quarter or more

وَإِنْ حَلَقَ رُبُعَ رَأْسِهِ فَصَاعِدًا فَعَلَيْهِ دَمٌ
Translation: If he shaves one-quarter of his head or more, an animal offering is due.

Rubʿ means one-quarter, or 25% of the head. Fa-saʿidan extends the ruling to amounts above that threshold.

This concerns impermissible shaving during ihram. The prescribed shaving/trimming at the proper stage of Hajj or Umrah is a different, legitimate rite and must not be confused with this infringement.

10. Shaving less than one-quarter

وَإِنْ حَلَقَ أَقَلَّ مِنَ الرُّبُعِ فَعَلَيْهِ صَدَقَةٌ
Translation: If he shaves less than one-quarter of the head, charity is due.

This is the contrasting threshold. If, in an illustrative case, one-fifth of the head was shaved, the specified quarter threshold is not reached, and the text calls for sadaqah.

Less than a quarter is not thereby permitted: the act remains prohibited. The passage classifies the compensation, rather than making a small violation lawful.

11. Applying the one-quarter threshold

One-quarter of the head or more: dam.
Less than one-quarter: sadaqah.

Illustrative examples involving 20% and 30% of the head show how the threshold changes the stated ruling. These are teaching examples of the quantity distinction, not automatic determinations for all complex real-life cases.

12. Shaving sites of cupping: a disagreement

وَإِنْ حَلَقَ مَوَاضِعَ الْمَحَاجِمِ فَعَلَيْهِ دَمٌ عِنْدَ أَبِي حَنِيفَةَ، وَقَالَ أَبُو يُوسُفَ وَمُحَمَّدٌ: عَلَيْهِ صَدَقَةٌ
Translation: If he shaves the sites where cupping is performed, Abu Hanifah requires an animal offering, while Abu Yusuf and Muhammad require charity.

Mawadiʿ al-mahajim are the sites treated for cupping. The founders of the Hanafi school differ on this specific case, so it should not be presented as a wholly undisputed ruling.

Abu Hanifah states dam, while his two students state sadaqah. The passage is specific and should not be stretched to every medical grooming procedure without further legal analysis.

13. Vocabulary of mawadiʿ and mahajim

Mawadiʿ is the plural of mawdiʿ, meaning places. Mahajim is the plural of mihjam, associated with the cupping implement or cupping sites.

In the clause, halaqa is a past-tense verb, with the muhrim understood as the agent and mawadiʿa as its object. The subject is shaving at those sites, not simply undergoing a cupping procedure.

14. Trimming the nails of hands and feet

وَإِنْ قَصَّ أَظَافِيرَ يَدَيْهِ وَرِجْلَيْهِ فَعَلَيْهِ دَمٌ
Translation: If he trims the nails of both hands and both feet, an animal offering is due.

Azafir is the plural of nails; yadayhi refers to both hands, and rijlayhi to both feet. The text prescribes dam for trimming the nails of both hands and both feet.

The next clauses distinguish one complete hand/foot, fewer than five nails, and five taken from different limbs. Those details must not be collapsed into one rule.

15. Nails of one complete hand or foot

وَإِنْ قَصَّ يَدًا أَوْ رِجْلًا فَعَلَيْهِ دَمٌ
Translation: If he trims the nails of one complete hand or one complete foot, an animal offering is due.

In this context, yadan aw rijlan means the nails of one complete hand or foot; it emphatically does not mean cutting off a limb. The object is shortened through an understood noun supplied by the context.

Trimming all five nails of one hand differs from trimming five nails distributed over different hands and feet, a distinct case discussed shortly.

16. Fewer than five nails

وَإِنْ قَصَّ أَقَلَّ مِنْ خَمْسَةِ أَظَافِيرَ فَعَلَيْهِ صَدَقَةٌ
Translation: If he clips fewer than five nails, charity is due.

Aqalla min khamsah is a precise quantitative expression: one, two, three, or four nails. The text prescribes sadaqah for this category.

This is a compensation threshold, not a permission to trim a small number of nails while in ihram.

17. Five nails distributed across limbs

وَإِنْ قَصَّ خَمْسَةَ أَظَافِيرَ مُتَفَرِّقَةً مِنْ يَدَيْهِ وَرِجْلَيْهِ فَعَلَيْهِ صَدَقَةٌ عِنْدَهُمَا، وَقَالَ مُحَمَّدٌ: عَلَيْهِ دَمٌ
Translation: If he clips five nails distributed among his hands and feet, Abu Hanifah and Abu Yusuf require charity, whereas Muhammad requires an animal offering.

Mutafarriqatan means distributed over different hands/feet, rather than all belonging to one complete hand or foot. ʿIndahuma here refers to Abu Hanifah and Abu Yusuf.

It would be inaccurate to say that five nails always incur dam. A complete set on one hand and a dispersed set have different analysis, and the dispersed set carries an explicit juristic disagreement.

18. Four separate nail cases

All nails of both hands and feet: dam.
All nails of one complete hand or foot: dam.
Fewer than five nails: sadaqah.
Five distributed among different limbs: sadaqah according to Abu Hanifah and Abu Yusuf, but dam according to Muhammad.

Treat these as four distinct legal fact patterns. The numeral five alone does not settle the answer.

19. An excuse and three expiation options

وَإِنْ تَطَيَّبَ أَوْ حَلَقَ أَوْ لَبِسَ مِنْ عُذْرٍ فَهُوَ مُخَيَّرٌ: إِنْ شَاءَ ذَبَحَ شَاةً، وَإِنْ شَاءَ تَصَدَّقَ عَلَى سِتَّةِ مَسَاكِينَ بِثَلَاثَةِ أَصْوُعٍ مِنْ طَعَامٍ، وَإِنْ شَاءَ صَامَ ثَلَاثَةَ أَيَّامٍ
Translation: If he uses perfume, shaves, or wears prohibited attire for a valid excuse, he may choose: slaughtering one sheep, distributing three saʿs of food among six poor persons, or fasting three days.

Min ʿudhr is the crucial condition: for example, a medically necessary act otherwise prohibited in ihram. MukhaYYar means there is a choice among the three remedies, not an obligation to perform all three.

The feeding route is 3 saʿs for 6 needy people, equal to one-half saʿ each if distributed equally. The third route is 3 fasting days. Determining a valid excuse and modern measure equivalents needs separate expert application.

20. How the three alternatives work

For a qualifying excuse, al-Quduri provides three alternatives:
1. Offer one sheep.
2. Give three saʿs of food among six needy persons, one-half saʿ each.
3. Fast three days.

The options are alternatives. In this qualifying case, selecting three days of fasting does not also require the person to feed six people.

21. Necessity is not unrestricted permission

Medical necessity or another recognized excuse may require an otherwise prohibited act. Al-Quduri provides a different expiation mechanism, but this does not make every preference or convenience a qualifying excuse.

For example, hair removal required for treatment can have a different ruling from cosmetic shaving without need. A real case must be assessed for the need, the amount involved, and the applicable legal category.

22. Connection with the Qur’anic fidyah verse

Qur’an 2:196 states: فَفِدْيَةٌ مِّن صِيَامٍ أَوْ صَدَقَةٍ أَوْ نُسُكٍ
Translation: Compensation by fasting, charity, or an offering.

Al-Quduri’s excused-violation clause details these three categories as fasting, feeding, or sacrifice. The Qur’anic statement provides the basis, while the juristic text specifies quantities and conditions in this discussion.

23. Distinguishing dam, sadaqah and fidyah

Dam: In this part of the chapter, a prescribed compensatory animal offering for more serious thresholds.
Sadaqah: A charitable payment for certain lesser infringements.
Fidyah with an excuse: One of three options: a sheep, food for six poor persons, or three days of fasting.

This is a conceptual map, not an exhaustive ruling on every violation. Later sections also mention larger offerings, including a badana.

24. Arabic grammar: conditional clauses

In idha tatayyaba al-muhrim, idha introduces a condition, tatayyaba is a past verb, and al-muhrim is the subject. In fa-ʿalayhi damun, the prepositional phrase forms the fronted predicate and damun the postponed subject.

Wa-in halaqa uses the conditional particle in. Repeated conditional structures help the learner separate the factual trigger from its prescribed consequence.

25. Arabic grammar: terms of quantity

In ʿudwan kamilan, ʿudwan is the object and kamilan its adjective. Aqalla min ʿudwin expresses a smaller-than comparison.

Rubʿa raʾsihi is an idafah phrase meaning “one-quarter of his head.” Fa-saʿidan extends the stated category upward to larger amounts.

26. Arabic grammar: choice in the excuse clause

Min ʿudhrin introduces the cause or excuse. Fa-huwa mukhayyarun establishes the legal consequence: the person may choose.

The repeated in shaʾa... wa-in shaʾa enumerates three alternatives, not cumulative requirements. Thalathati aswuʿin gives the food measure, and sittati masakin gives the number of recipients.

27. Worked examples: perfume and clothing

Case 1: A muhrim applies perfume across an entire arm: the complete-member clause points to dam.
Case 2: Perfume on only a small portion of the arm: the ordinary ruling is sadaqah.
Case 3: A male muhrim wears prohibited clothing for part, not all, of the stipulated day: the shorter-duration category is sadaqah.

These examples assume no qualifying excuse or combined offenses.

28. Worked examples: hair and nails

Case 1: One-third of the head shaved: above one-quarter, so dam.
Case 2: One-fifth shaved: less than one-quarter, so sadaqah.
Case 3: All five nails of one hand clipped: dam.
Case 4: Five nails dispersed over different limbs: sadaqah under Abu Hanifah and Abu Yusuf; dam under Muhammad.

The conditions are as important as the answer.

29. Worked example: a valid excuse

Suppose shaving is medically necessary for a pilgrim and the circumstance is recognized as a valid excuse. Al-Quduri provides three choices: a sheep, three saʿs of food distributed among six needy persons, or three days of fasting.

This demonstrates the significance of fa-huwa mukhayyarun. Whether a particular medical need qualifies, and whether further rulings apply in an actual case, needs separate assessment.

30. Cautions when applying the rules

These rulings depend on body member, duration, amount, excuse, and differences among jurists. Multiple acts should not automatically be assumed to incur one shared payment, nor should a cash amount be invented without addressing the conditions.

Contemporary weight equivalents, offering location, and payment procedures require specialized legal analysis. This lesson teaches the primary classical rule, not an unconditional ruling for every personal case.

31. Summary and next step

Perfume: a whole member or more—dam; less—sadaqah.
Prohibited clothing/head covering: a full day—dam; shorter—sadaqah.
Shaving: at least one-quarter of the head—dam; less—sadaqah; disagreement for cupping sites.
Nails: a full hand/foot, fewer than five, and dispersed five are separate cases.
Excuse: one of three specified compensations.

The next level continues from the immediately following clause, wa-in qabbala aw lamasa bi-shahwatin. No later passage has been skipped.