Does a slave who has not established prayer and fasting fulfill the condition of faith required for expiation?
General Chapter
Al-Mughni
Book of Expiations
Primary text
The view held by al-Sha'bi, Malik, and Ishaq is that the slave must have prayed and fasted to be considered fulfilling the required works of faith. The reasoning is that faith requires both speech (pronouncing the Shahadah) and action (performing obligatory duties like prayer and fasting), and without the latter, the required action is absent.
Supporting text
A differing opinion, held by al-Hasan, 'Ata, al-Zuhri, al-Shafi'i, and Ibn al-Mundhir, considers any Muslim slave sufficient, arguing that 'faith' here means Islam, as evidenced by the allowance of freeing a habitually sinful Muslim (Fasiq). They rely on the tradition where the Prophet (peace be upon him) judged a slave girl to be a believer based solely on her affirmative answers regarding Allah's location and the Prophet's identity, without inquiring about prayer or fasting. This suggests that for the purpose of expiation, adherence to the declaration of Islam suffices.