Expiation for Vows and Their Categories
Machine translationRead the Arabic original
Question:
The second question: I am a woman whose tongue habitually makes vows, but I do not fulfill them because I was ignorant of their ruling. Now I have learned that it is not permissible. What must I do, considering that when I make a vow, I do not intend with my heart what I say?
Answer:
The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) does not bring forth good. So you must restrain your tongue from making vows; you should leave off making vows. Vows are of different categories. If you vow to do an act of obedience, saying, “It is upon me to pray so much” or “to give so much in charity,” you must fulfill it. If you say, “It is upon me to vow to hit so-and-so” or “to speak to so-and-so,” these are permissible matters. If you carry them out, there is no harm; if you do not carry them out, you must expiate your oath. This is the ruling on vows: if it is an act of obedience, it must be fulfilled; if it is a permissible matter, the person is given a choice. If he fulfills what he said, that is fine; if he wishes, he may expiate the oath instead of fulfilling it.
The second question: I am a woman whose tongue habitually makes vows, but I do not fulfill them because I was ignorant of their ruling. Now I have learned that it is not permissible. What must I do, considering that when I make a vow, I do not intend with my heart what I say?
Answer:
The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) does not bring forth good. So you must restrain your tongue from making vows; you should leave off making vows. Vows are of different categories. If you vow to do an act of obedience, saying, “It is upon me to pray so much” or “to give so much in charity,” you must fulfill it. If you say, “It is upon me to vow to hit so-and-so” or “to speak to so-and-so,” these are permissible matters. If you carry them out, there is no harm; if you do not carry them out, you must expiate your oath. This is the ruling on vows: if it is an act of obedience, it must be fulfilled; if it is a permissible matter, the person is given a choice. If he fulfills what he said, that is fine; if he wishes, he may expiate the oath instead of fulfilling it.
Source
فتاوى الحج - ٢ — archive.org (53:14)
The Arabic text is a machine transcription of the audio recording.