Is it permissible to transition to fasting if one is wealthy but their wealth is temporarily absent when paying expiation (kaffarah) is due?
General Chapter
Al-Mughni
Book of Zihar
Primary text
If a person is wealthy (*musir*) at the time the expiation becomes obligatory, but their wealth is absent, and its return is expected soon, transitioning to fasting is not permissible. This situation is equivalent to waiting to acquire a slave for manumission, which is required for certain expiations. If the wealth's return is distant, transitioning to fasting is generally not permitted, except possibly in the expiation for *Zihar* (in a specific dissenting view), because there is no immediate harm in waiting for the wealth in other expiations.
Supporting text
There are two differing opinions regarding whether transition to fasting is permissible in the expiation for *Zihar* when wealth is absent but distant. One view states it is not permissible due to the principal existence of the wealth, equating it to all other expiations. The second view permits it because the individual is prohibited from marital intimacy (*masees*), thus necessitating the transition due to need.