Wednesday, July 29, 2026

Guide to Ziyārah and the Rules of Dam, Badanah & Ṣadaqah

How to visit these holy sites?

Dear visitors to Makkah and Madīnah! For the acquisition of blessings I have mentioned only a few holy sites. For further information about holy sites and faith-refreshing parables, interested devotees of Rasūl should study the book 'Āshiqān-e-Rasūl kī Ḥikāyatayn ma' Makkay Madīnay kī Ziyāratayn' published by Maktaba-tul-Madīnah, the publishing department of Dawat-e-Islami. Your Īmān will be refreshed. However, not everyone is able enough to get to these holy sites just by reading about them from this book.

There are two ways to visit these sites. Firstly, you can hire a taxi outside Masjid-un-Nabawī where every morning the drivers consistently shout 'Ziyārah Ziyārah'. The taxi will take you to the five Masājid, Masjid Qubā and the resting place of Sayyidunā Ḥamzah رَضِیَ اللّٰہُ تَعَالٰی عَنْہُ. Secondly, you can hire any person who is familiar with the holy sites of Makkah and Madīnah so that he would take you to those sites.

صَلُّوْا عَلَى الْحَبِيْبْ ۔ صَلَّى اللّٰهُ تَعَالٰى عَلٰى مُحَمَّد

Offences and their Expiations

Keep in mind some essential terms etc. prior to studying rulings described in the form of questions & answers.

Definition of Dam* etc.

1.      Dam: A Dam (dʌm) implies one goat (male or female, sheep, ram or the seventh part of a cow or a camel).

2.      Badanah: A Badanah implies a camel or a cow (including bulls, buffalos etc.)

3.      Ṣadaqah: A Ṣadaqah implies the amount of one Ṣadaqah Fiṭr¹.

Leniency in Dam etc.

If the offence occurs due to sickness or severe heat or cold or wound or blisters/boils or the extreme discomfort caused by lice; this is called an 'unintentional offence'. If such an unintentional offence occurs that makes Dam Wājib, there is the option in this case either to pay Dam or donate Ṣadaqah to six Masākīn instead of Dam. If six Ṣadaqahs are donated to the same Miskīn¹, it will be considered as one Ṣadaqah. Therefore, it is necessary to give six Ṣadaqahs to six different Masākīn.

* In this book, the word 'Dam' has been used in the sense of an expiation with its pronunciation as 'dʌm'. It must not be pronounced as 'dæm'. Note that this word has been italicized in the whole book with its 'D' capitalized. [Translator's Note]

¹ The amount of one Ṣadaqah Fiṭr is 1.920 kilograms of wheat or its flour or the money equivalent to the value of this much wheat or 3.840 kilograms of barley or dates or the money equivalent to it.

The second option is that each of the six Masākīn can be provided with two meals (such that they are full) instead of paying Dam. The third option is that if he does not want to donate Ṣadaqah etc., he can observe three fasts; thus his Dam will get paid. If such an unintentional offence occurs that makes Ṣadaqah Wājib, then there is the choice either to pay Ṣadaqah or to keep one fast instead.

(Mulakhkhaṣ az: Bahār-e-Sharī'at, vol. 1, pp. 1162)

Important ruling regarding expiatory fast

In case of observing an expiatory fast, it is a condition that its intention must be made within the night, i.e. before Ṣubḥ-e-Ṣādiq. The intention may be made in these words: 'I am going to observe a fast for such and such expiation.' Iḥrām is not a condition for these fasts. Similarly, it is also not a condition to observe such fasts consecutively.

The act of donating Ṣadaqah and that of observing the fast may be performed in one's own country as well. However, it is preferable to donate Ṣadaqah and food to the Masākīn of Ḥaram. It is a condition that the animal for Dam and Badanah be slaughtered within Ḥaram. The meat of the animal slaughtered in gratitude can be eaten by the sacrifice-performing person as well as the rich and the poor, but that of the one slaughtered to pay Dam or Badanah etc. can only be eaten by the deserving people. The expiation-paying person and the Ghanī people cannot eat it.

(Mulakhkhaṣ az: Bahār-e-Sharī'at, vol. 1, pp. 1162-1163)

¹ A Miskīn is the one who does not possess anything and who has to beg others for clothes or food for covering the body. Begging is Ḥalāl (allowed) for him.

Fear Allah

Some people deliberately commit the 'offence' but do not pay the expiation. This act of theirs leads to committing two sins: (i) committing the offence deliberately and (ii) not paying the expiation.

Therefore, they must pay the expiation, and repentance will also be Wājib for them. However, if an offence occurs unknowingly or under coercion or by mistake, just expiation is enough in this case, repentance is not Wājib. Further, it must also be remembered that whether the offence occurs deliberately or by mistake, knowingly or unknowingly, willingly or under coercion, whilst one is asleep or awake, unconscious or conscious and whether one commits the offence himself or causes someone else to do it, expiation must be paid. If the expiation is not paid, it will be a sin.

When it comes to paying for the offence, some people even say: 'Allah will forgive us', and then they do not pay Dam etc. Such people should remember the fact that paying Dam etc. has been declared Wājib by Sharī'ah, and evading Dam etc. deliberately is non-compliance with Sharī'ah, which is itself a severe sin. Some wealth-loving unwise Hujjāj even ask such a question as: It is just a sin, Dam is not Wājib (مَعَاذَاللّٰہ). Alas! All they are concerned about is to save a few coins only ignoring the fact that they have deserved a severe torment due to the sin. To trivialize a sin leads to serious consequences and even Kufr in some cases. May Allah bless us all with a Madanī mindset!

اٰمِيْن بِجَاهِ النَّبِیِّ الْاَمِيْن صَلَّى اللّٰهُ تَعَالٰى عَلَيْهِ وَاٰلِهٖ وَسَلَّم

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