What does one do if he has several expiations he does not know the number of?
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The questioner : May Allah reward you. He says: A person has several expiations and wants to make expiation for them, but he does not know the exact number. What should he do?
The Shaykh : What are the expiations? What are the expiations? In any case, expiations differ. Some people think there are multiple expiations in a situation where there is only one. For example, if a person swears several oaths regarding one single matter, he only owes one expiation. For instance, he says, "By Allah, I will not talk to so-and-so."
Then some people said to him, "I heard you swore you would not talk to so-and-so, and he is a good and righteous man, and boycotting a Muslim is forbidden." He said, "By Allah, I will not talk to him." How many oaths is that? Fine, another man said to him, "I heard you swore you would not talk to so-and-so, and he is a good and righteous man, and boycotting a Muslim is forbidden." He said, "By Allah, I will not talk to him." How many oaths is that? Three oaths, but the act is one. If he talks to him, he only owes one expiation. However, if the matters sworn about are multiple, such as saying, "By Allah, I will not talk to so-and-so," and "By Allah, I will not enter such-and-such house," and "By Allah, I will not buy such-and-such car." How many is that? Three oaths, and the matters sworn about are three things. So if he talks to so-and-so, enters the house, and buys the car, how many expiations does he owe?
He owes three expiations. In any case, we answer according to the question. If expiations are multiplied and a person does not know how many they are, he is only required to fulfill what he is certain of, because the default is that the conscience is clear. So if he is in doubt between three expiations or two, how many is he required to fulfill? I told you, my brothers, where are your minds? I told you he is only required to fulfill what he is certain of. He is now in doubt between three or two. How many is he required to fulfill? Two, because the doubt regarding the certain one is the one that is ten or eight, likewise. And so on.
The Shaykh : What are the expiations? What are the expiations? In any case, expiations differ. Some people think there are multiple expiations in a situation where there is only one. For example, if a person swears several oaths regarding one single matter, he only owes one expiation. For instance, he says, "By Allah, I will not talk to so-and-so."
Then some people said to him, "I heard you swore you would not talk to so-and-so, and he is a good and righteous man, and boycotting a Muslim is forbidden." He said, "By Allah, I will not talk to him." How many oaths is that? Fine, another man said to him, "I heard you swore you would not talk to so-and-so, and he is a good and righteous man, and boycotting a Muslim is forbidden." He said, "By Allah, I will not talk to him." How many oaths is that? Three oaths, but the act is one. If he talks to him, he only owes one expiation. However, if the matters sworn about are multiple, such as saying, "By Allah, I will not talk to so-and-so," and "By Allah, I will not enter such-and-such house," and "By Allah, I will not buy such-and-such car." How many is that? Three oaths, and the matters sworn about are three things. So if he talks to so-and-so, enters the house, and buys the car, how many expiations does he owe?
He owes three expiations. In any case, we answer according to the question. If expiations are multiplied and a person does not know how many they are, he is only required to fulfill what he is certain of, because the default is that the conscience is clear. So if he is in doubt between three expiations or two, how many is he required to fulfill? I told you, my brothers, where are your minds? I told you he is only required to fulfill what he is certain of. He is now in doubt between three or two. How many is he required to fulfill? Two, because the doubt regarding the certain one is the one that is ten or eight, likewise. And so on.
Source
قناة «فضيلة الشيخ محمد بن صالح العثيمين»، 10 - 45 - دروس وفتاوى المسجد الحرام للعام 1417 هـ - الدرس العاشر - الشيخ محمد بن صالح العثيمين — youtube.com (39:11)
The Arabic text is a machine transcription of the audio recording.