All praise and thanks are due to Allah, and peace and blessings be upon His Messenger.

Dear brother, thanks a lot for your question, and we commend your care about the teachings ofShari`ah.

Regarding your question, fidyah (ransom) is expiation for violating the restrictions of ihram. For example, pilgrims are not to shave or clip their heads unless they slaughter the hadi. But if a pilgrim has some medical problem such as inflammation on his scalp that he cannot wait, he can shave his head and make fidyah as an expiation. There are many forms of fidyah--as the Qur'an states: fasting, giving charity, or slaughtering an animal. The hadi, on the other hand, is a sacrificial animal to be offered in the name of Allah, and there is no substitute for it unless one cannot afford it.

For more elaboration, we cite the following fatwa issued by the late former Grand Sheikh of Al-Azhar Sheikh `Abdel-Halim Mahmoud (may Allah bless his soul):

There is a difference between fidyah and hadi in Hajj. Fidyah is a kind of expiation made in case there is a violation of the restrictions of ihram, i.e., doing an act that is prohibited during the state of ihram. It is mentioned in the Qur’anic verse that reads: (And complete the Hajj and `Umrah in the service of Allah. But if ye are prevented (from completing it), send an offering for sacrifice, such as ye may find, and do not shave your heads until the offering reaches the place of sacrifice. And if any of you is ill, or has an ailment in his scalp (necessitating shaving), (he should) in compensation either fast, or feed the poor, or offer sacrifice) (Al-Baqarah 2:196).

The place where fidyah is to be made, according to Imam Malik, is in Makkah or any other country, even a pilgrim’s own country if he wills. This applies in all kinds of fidyah: fasting, charity or offering. Imam Malik maintains that a pilgrim can make fidyah when he returns home, and there is no need to authorize someone to make it for him in Makkah. However, it is permissible for him in this case to authorize another to make fidyah on his behalf in Al-Haram (the sacred precinct) in the case of charity or offering.

The hadi, on the other hand, is a sacrificial animal immolated in the name of Allah by the pilgrim. It is to be slaughtered in Al-Haram and distributed among the poor and the needy. The hadi is offered in certain cases, among which are the following:

1. If something occurred and prevented the pilgrim from completing the rituals of Hajj or `Umrah, such as illness or enemy attack. In this concern, Almighty Allah says, (And complete the Hajj and `Umrah in the service of Allah. But if ye are prevented (from completing it), send an offering for sacrifice, such as ye may find) (Al-Baqarah 2:196). The hadi cannot be anything other than a sacrificial animal. It has no other forms. If the pilgrim has no capacity to offer it, he cannot substitute anything else for it, nor should he offer it when he has the capacity.

2. In the case of tamattu` Hajj (in which the pilgrim performs `Umrah, gets out of the state of ihram, and then enters ihram again for Hajj). This is indicated in the Qur’anic verse in which Allah Almighty says, (If any one wishes to continue the `Umrah on to the Hajj, he must make an offering, such as he can afford) (Al-Baqarah 2:196).

If the pilgrim cannot afford the hadi, then he can do what Allah Almighty has mentioned in the same verse, when He Almighty says, (but if he cannot afford it, He should fast three days during the Hajj and seven days on his return, making ten days in all) (Al-Baqarah 2:196).

Imam Malik legalizes slaughtering the hadi outside Makkah, exactly like the fidyah.

3. In case a pilgrim hunts inside Al-Haram, although it is impermissible to do so, as Allah Almighty says, (O ye who believe! Kill no wild game while ye are on the pilgrimage. Whoso of you killeth it of set purpose he shall pay its forfeit in the equivalent of that which he hath killed, of domestic animals, the judge to be two men among you known for justice, (the forfeit) to be brought as an offering to the Ka`bah; or, for expiation, he shall feed poor persons, or the equivalent thereof in fasting) (Al-Ma’idah 5:95).

It is, moreover, possible for a pilgrim in this case to authorize another person to slaughter the hadi in Al-Haram on his behalf if he does not want to fast.