The Ruling on Breaking an Oath
Machine translationRead the Arabic original
Question:
This questioner says, Honorable Shaykh: Is it permissible for me to break my oath? I said, “I swear by the Great Allah that I will do such-and-such,” but I was unable to. What expiation is required of me?
Answer:
If you swear that you will do such-and-such, or that you will not do such-and-such, intending the oath, it is obligatory for you to fulfill your oath. It is not permissible for you to break it except if the oath was to leave off a recommended practice or an obligation, such as maintaining family ties. In that case, it is obligatory to maintain the family ties and to pay the expiation for the oath, based on the saying of the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him)Sunan an-Nasa'i 3780Sahih (Darussalam) And Allah (Exalted and Majestic is He) says: [Al-Baqarah 2:224] And Allah is All-Hearing, All-Knowing. As for what you mentioned about not being able to fulfill your oath, you wait until you are able to, then you fulfill what you swore to, if it was to do something recommended, or if it was a prohibited matter and you fell into it out of dire necessity. In that case, there is nothing wrong with it, for Allah does not hold a person accountable for dire necessity. In any case, fulfilling the oath is obligatory, as Allah the Exalted says: "And keep your oaths." Yes.
This questioner says, Honorable Shaykh: Is it permissible for me to break my oath? I said, “I swear by the Great Allah that I will do such-and-such,” but I was unable to. What expiation is required of me?
Answer:
If you swear that you will do such-and-such, or that you will not do such-and-such, intending the oath, it is obligatory for you to fulfill your oath. It is not permissible for you to break it except if the oath was to leave off a recommended practice or an obligation, such as maintaining family ties. In that case, it is obligatory to maintain the family ties and to pay the expiation for the oath, based on the saying of the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him)
By Allah, I do not swear an oath and then see something better than it
إني والله لا أحلف على يمين فأرى غيرها خيرا منها حتىI expiate for my oath and do what is better,
أكفر عن يميني وأفعل الذي هو خير،And do not make [your oath by] Allah an excuse against being righteous and fearing Allah and making peace among people
وَلَا تَجْعَلُوا اللَّهَ عُرْضَةً لِّأَيْمَانِكُمْ أَن تَبَرُّوا وَتَتَّقُوا وَتُصْلِحُوا بَيْنَ النَّاسِ
Source
نور على الدرب - الفوزان - 02/238 — archive.org (2:44)
The Arabic text is a machine transcription of the audio recording.