What does one do if he has multiple expiations and does not know their number?
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Question : 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?
Answer : 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 actually only one. For example, if a person swears multiple oaths regarding one single matter, he only owes one expiation.
For example, he said, "By Allah, I will not talk to so-and-so." Then someone told him, "I heard you swore you would not talk to so-and-so. 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? Then another man told him, "I heard you swore you would not talk to so-and-so. 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. 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 multiple 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. If he is uncertain whether it is 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 uncertain between three or two. How many is he required to fulfill? Two, because the certain number is two, and the doubt is whether it is ten or eight. And so on.
Answer : 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 actually only one. For example, if a person swears multiple oaths regarding one single matter, he only owes one expiation.
For example, he said, "By Allah, I will not talk to so-and-so." Then someone told him, "I heard you swore you would not talk to so-and-so. 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? Then another man told him, "I heard you swore you would not talk to so-and-so. 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. 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 multiple 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. If he is uncertain whether it is 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 uncertain between three or two. How many is he required to fulfill? Two, because the certain number is two, and the doubt is whether it is ten or eight. And so on.
Source
دروس وفتاوى المسجد الحرام لعام 1417هـ - 10 — binothaimeen.net (39:11)
The Arabic text is a machine transcription of the audio recording.