What are the types of expiation (Kaffarah) applicable to a disbeliever?
General Chapter
Al-Mughni
Book of Expiations
Primary text
The expiation required for an oath-breaker applies equally to a slave or a free person, a man or a woman, and a Muslim or a disbeliever, due to the general wording of the divine address concerning expiation. However, a disbeliever cannot fulfill the expiation through fasting because it is an act of worship for which they are not qualified, nor through manumission, as the condition for manumission (freeing a slave) requires faith in the slave's neck (the person being freed). A disbeliever cannot validly purchase a Muslim slave to free them unless Islam happens to occur in his possession, or he inherits a Muslim slave and frees him, in which case the manumission is valid. If these conditions are not met, the disbeliever's expiation is by feeding or clothing the poor.
Supporting text
If the disbeliever performs expiation through feeding or clothing and then later embraces Islam, he is not required to repeat the expiation. If he embraces Islam before fulfilling the expiation, he must perform the expiation appropriate for his status at that time, such as manumission, feeding, clothing, or fasting. A differing view suggests that fasting is not valid for him even if he converts before fulfilling the oath, because fasting was not the obligation incumbent upon him at the moment of breaking the oath (Hinth).