The Expiation for an Oath and the Food of the Country
Machine translationRead the Arabic original
The questioner:
Regarding the expiation of feeding ten poor people, may Allah reward you, is it the food of the local people, may Allah reward you?
The Shaykh:
It is obligatory for him.
The questioner:
This is what is in it, for example.
The Shaykh:
What the one who swore an oath has: dates, or rice, or wheat, or whatever constitutes his food. Yes.
The questioner:
Meaning, it is not a condition that it must be rice and meat.
The Shaykh:
The food of the country, the food of the country.
The presenter:
But may Allah guide you.
The Shaykh:
No, it is a choice: if he wills, he feeds ten; if he wills, he clothes them; if he wills, he frees a slave. If he is unable to do the three, then fasting comes in when he is unable to do the three. There is an order between the three and fasting. He does not fast; fasting does not suffice for him unless he is unable to do the three: unable to feed, unable to clothe, and unable to free. After that, fasting is its order.
The questioner:
But Shaykh, may Allah keep you safe,[Al-Ma'idah 5:89] this is not the case.
The Shaykh:
There is no penalty in all of this.
The questioner:
There is no penalty for frequent oaths.
The Shaykh:
There is no harm if the oath slips out in the course of conversation, and he did not intend it.
Regarding the expiation of feeding ten poor people, may Allah reward you, is it the food of the local people, may Allah reward you?
The Shaykh:
It is obligatory for him.
The questioner:
This is what is in it, for example.
The Shaykh:
What the one who swore an oath has: dates, or rice, or wheat, or whatever constitutes his food. Yes.
The questioner:
Meaning, it is not a condition that it must be rice and meat.
The Shaykh:
The food of the country, the food of the country.
The presenter:
But may Allah guide you.
The Shaykh:
No, it is a choice: if he wills, he feeds ten; if he wills, he clothes them; if he wills, he frees a slave. If he is unable to do the three, then fasting comes in when he is unable to do the three. There is an order between the three and fasting. He does not fast; fasting does not suffice for him unless he is unable to do the three: unable to feed, unable to clothe, and unable to free. After that, fasting is its order.
The questioner:
But Shaykh, may Allah keep you safe,
Allah will not impose blame upon you for what is meaningless in your oaths
لَا يُؤَاخِذُكُمُ اللَّهُ بِاللَّغْوِ فِي أَيْمَانِكُمْThe Shaykh:
There is no penalty in all of this.
The questioner:
There is no penalty for frequent oaths.
The Shaykh:
There is no harm if the oath slips out in the course of conversation, and he did not intend it.
Source
التعليق على رياض الصالحين، باب العفو عن لغو اليمين : الأحاديث : [ 1722 - 1724 ] — islamhouse.com (4:43)
The Arabic text is a machine transcription of the audio recording.