5-Endless Bliss Fifth Fascicle - Hakikat Kitabevi

when goods in whose comparison there is fâidh (interest, usury)
are of different kinds, it is permissible to give less or fewer of
the better ones and more of the poorer ones. In qurbân and in
emancipating slaves equivalents cannot be given. For these
two require shedding blood and rescuing from slavery, not
giving property. Only after the ’Iyd days are over can the
equivalent of the animal for qurbân be given to the poor. A
person who has vowed to kill two medium sheep as the qurbân
cannot kill a big ram as the qurbân which is equal to them in
value. He has to kill two. [In lieu of sheep (vowed) the same
number of goats can be killed, and equal number of cattle can
be offered in place of camels vowed. They do not have to be
equal in weight or value.] But he who has vowed to give two
medium sheep as alms (to the poor) can give a big ram which is
equal to the two sheep in value. A person who has vowed a tin
of low quality dates cannot give half a tin of good dates which
are equal in value. For, when they are of the same kind, if their
amounts are not equal when being changed for each other the
act becomes fâidh. It would be permissible if he gave half a tin
of good barley which is of equal value.
A vow to kill an animal must be for Allah’s sake without any
stipulation. It is permissible to give the meat to the poor and to
present the thawâb for it to a Walî or to an exalted religious
person. Then, one must pray for the realization of one’s wish for
the sake of the alms and the Walî (to whose soul one has
presented the thawâb for the alms one has given to the poor).
In other words, one must do one’s vows as exemplified: “If I
attain this wish of mine, I will kill a sheep for Allah’s sake at
Eyyûb [1] , give the meat to those poor people who are neighbors
to Hadrat Khâlid [2] , and present the thawâb to his soul.” An
[1] A district in Istanbul. It is situated alongside the Golden Horn. It
embodies the blessed grave of hadrat Khâlid Eyyûb al-Ansârî ‘radiy-
Allâhu ta’âlâ anh’, one of the Sahâba. See below.
[2] When the Messenger of Allah completed his painful trek from Mekka
and finally arrived in Medina, —the onerous migration has been termed
‘Hijrat’ (Hegira) ever since,— all the Muslims living in Medina met the
blessed Prophet at the gate of the holy city, each and every one of
them begging the Messenger of Allah to honour his house and be his
guest. Lest anyone should be offended, the Prophet said to them, “I
shall be the guest of the person in front of whose house my camel
kneels down.” The camel, with the blessed Prophet on its back, walked
for a while and stopped and knelt down in front of hadrat Khâlid Eyyûb
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