In the Fiqh book for the second year of secondary school, it says: “And it is obligatory for the one who takes an oath of abstinence (ila’) to pay the expiation for an oath, even if he takes his wife back before four months”!

Question:
May Allah reward you, Your Eminence, father. The questioner says: In the Fiqh book for the third year of secondary school, in the chapter on ila’ (an oath to abstain from one’s wife), on the side of ila’, the author says: “It is obligatory for the husband who takes an oath of abstinence to pay the expiation for an oath if he has intercourse with his wife, whether before the four months end or after; because his ila’ is an oath.” Is this statement correct?

Answer:
No, it is not correct. If he takes her back before four months, he owes nothing. Yes, if he takes her back before four months, yes, he owes the expiation, he owes the expiation. But if he does not take her back and the four months are completed, the judge stops him by demanding she request it, so either he takes her back and has intercourse with her and pays the expiation—the expiation is obligatory in all cases, because he swore that he would not have intercourse with her, so the expiation is due on him whether he had intercourse before the four months or after. The judge obliges him either to take her back and pay the expiation, or to divorce her, to remove the hardship from her. The statement is correct, meaning the expiation is obligatory before the four months and after the four months through intercourse, because he did what he swore to leave. Yes.