The ruling on swearing an oath while in a state of lost consciousness
Machine translationRead the Arabic original
Question:
If a man swears to carry out a matter while in a state where he may not be in control of his senses, is he required to perform expiation? And what is it?
Answer:
If a person swears to do something and does not do it, the expiation for the oath is obligatory upon him; for example, if he says, "By Allah, I will speak to so-and-so," or "By Allah, I will visit him," or "By Allah, I will pray such and such," or the like, and then he does not do what he swore to, the expiation for the oath is obligatory upon him if he is sane and knows what he is saying. However, if he is overcome by anger and is not in his right mind, the oath is not established, because awareness of what one is saying is a necessary condition.
So, if anger overcomes him to the point where he does not understand what he is saying or cannot control what he is saying, there is no expiation upon him for such a person; just like a madman, an imbecile, or a sleeping person. He may leave what he swore to if he sees benefit in doing so, and he expiates for his oath; based on the saying of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him):Sahih al-Bukhari 6622 It is agreed upon that it is authentic.
So, if he swears not to visit so-and-so, and then he sees that the best course is to visit him, he visits him and expiates for his oath, and so on with similar matters.
There is no harm in performing the expiation early or delaying it. And Allah is the guarantor of success.
If a man swears to carry out a matter while in a state where he may not be in control of his senses, is he required to perform expiation? And what is it?
Answer:
If a person swears to do something and does not do it, the expiation for the oath is obligatory upon him; for example, if he says, "By Allah, I will speak to so-and-so," or "By Allah, I will visit him," or "By Allah, I will pray such and such," or the like, and then he does not do what he swore to, the expiation for the oath is obligatory upon him if he is sane and knows what he is saying. However, if he is overcome by anger and is not in his right mind, the oath is not established, because awareness of what one is saying is a necessary condition.
So, if anger overcomes him to the point where he does not understand what he is saying or cannot control what he is saying, there is no expiation upon him for such a person; just like a madman, an imbecile, or a sleeping person. He may leave what he swore to if he sees benefit in doing so, and he expiates for his oath; based on the saying of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him):
and whenever you take an oath to do something and later you find that something else is better than the first, then do the better one and make expiation for your oath.
إذا حلفت على يمين فرأيت غيرها خيرًا منها، فكفر عن يمينك، وأت الذي هو خيرSo, if he swears not to visit so-and-so, and then he sees that the best course is to visit him, he visits him and expiates for his oath, and so on with similar matters.
There is no harm in performing the expiation early or delaying it. And Allah is the guarantor of success.
Source
binbaz.org.sa
The Arabic text is copied verbatim from the original source, without any edits.