Al-Kaffarah

Al-Kaffarah is a term in Islamic law meaning the expiation of sin, or more specifically “to compensate for commissioning a sinful act or what is paid to redress an imbalance that is a kind of penalty or punishment.” Examples of sinful acts include violating Ramadan fasting, violating ihram restrictions in Hajj, consciously hurting a person or animal. Examples of expiation of them include fasting for two consecutive months, freeing a Muslim slave, paying for food to feed 60 poor people, slaughtering a goat. Kaffarah is similar to two other Islamic obligations/punishments: diya and fidyah. Kaffarah resembles diya in that the perpetrator of the sin is often paying something of value in punishment, but unlike diya, the money does not go to the victim as compensation. Kaffarah resembles fidyah in that they both often involve recompense for the breaking of religious obligations, but fidyah compensation is lighter because fidyah only involves situations where a Muslim was unable to fulfill the obligation unintentionally or for reasons beyond their control.