Oaths and Their Expiation

Allah (swt) then passes to another matter. As said, there is mā farraṭnā — as Allah will say later, We have left nothing out of this Qur'an — and the next matter is the taking of oaths. Allah says in verse 89:

Allah (swt) will not take you to task for your idle oaths — your redundant oaths, as it were; but He will take you to task for those you ratify. What does that mean? Allah (swt) then mentions the expiation for breaking an oath. Oaths may be of several kinds. One is to swear about something in the past. A case is being heard: did you see a white car here? A man thinks that he did see a white car, and so, in all honesty, he takes an oath: wallāhi, I saw a white car there this morning; there was a white car parked outside the masjid. But he happens to be wrong: the camera is checked, and it was not so. He made a mistake — he was fasting, perhaps; somehow he was mistaken. Allah will not take him to task for that. That is an oath about the past, and there is no expiation for it either; it was simply wrong.

Had he not been mistaken, but had told a lie to protect someone, to misrepresent — that is called yamīn al-ghamūs, the immersing oath, meaning that it will immerse one in sin. It is a deadly oath; for that is what many do to cause trouble in the world: they swear plainly to a thing. That is one kind.

The second kind is to swear about something in the future — this will be done, wallāhi; do not worry, I shall come — and then not to do it; the oath has then been broken, and for that an expiation is required. In that case it is not properly a question of sin — unless one is simply making false oath-promises; it is more an oath of promise. In that case an expiation must be paid. If it was not fulfilled — one says, wallāhi, I shall not speak to them again; one should not say such a thing in any case, but if one did — in some cases one is in fact obliged to break the oath and then pay the kaffārah, as the Prophet (peace be upon him) said in a hadith, because the oath was wrong to take. For any oath broken concerning something in the future, Allah then sets out the kaffārah, the expiation: to feed ten miskīns, ten poor people, a moderate quantity of food; or to clothe ten of them; or to free a slave. Those come first. Many jump to the second stage, which is not permitted. The second stage is that if none of these three can be found — no slave to free, which is probably the case; no means to clothe ten miskīns, for want of money; no means to feed ten of them — only then is one permitted to fast for three days. Many suppose that fasting three days comes first, but it proceeds in order: one may not fast three days unless unable to do any of the first three. Allah says: maintain your oaths. They are to be maintained — be careful of them, and mind your oaths.