Does one who swears a false oath owe an expiation?
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Question: I have a brother who obtained a passport and wanted to obtain another one. During the investigation, the investigator asked him, "Do you swear that you do not have a previous passport?" The brother had not seen a Qur'an in front of the investigator, but then the investigator brought one out, and the brother, out of fear, swore that he had not obtained another passport. Please inform us of the ruling on this, whether he owes a blood sacrifice, and whether the expiation is sufficient.
Answer: He must repent to Allah (Glorified and Exalted is He), and so must every liar; he must repent to Allah, be truthful in that, feel remorse, and not return to it. There is no expiation for a false oath—in the correct view—because the expiations for oaths are for the future if one violates them, such as saying, "By Allah, I will not do such-and-such," or "By Allah, I will not talk to so-and-so."
As for the liar, he only needs to repent; he should repent to Allah, feel remorse for what he did, abandon the sin, and make a sincere resolve not to return to it, out of sincerity for Allah and desire for what is with Him. By this, Allah will forgive him, for sincere repentance is by which Allah erases sins, as Allah (Glorified and Exalted is He) said: :[An-Nur 24:31], and the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: Sunan Ibn Majah 4250Da’if (Darussalam).
Answer: He must repent to Allah (Glorified and Exalted is He), and so must every liar; he must repent to Allah, be truthful in that, feel remorse, and not return to it. There is no expiation for a false oath—in the correct view—because the expiations for oaths are for the future if one violates them, such as saying, "By Allah, I will not do such-and-such," or "By Allah, I will not talk to so-and-so."
As for the liar, he only needs to repent; he should repent to Allah, feel remorse for what he did, abandon the sin, and make a sincere resolve not to return to it, out of sincerity for Allah and desire for what is with Him. By this, Allah will forgive him, for sincere repentance is by which Allah erases sins, as Allah (Glorified and Exalted is He) said: :
And turn to Allah in repentance, all of you, O believers, that you might succeed.
وَتُوبُوا إِلَى اللَّهِ جَمِيعًا أَيُّهَا الْمُؤْمِنُونَ لَعَلَّكُمْ تُفْلِحُونَThe one who repents from sin is like one who did not sin.
التائب من الذنب كمن لا ذنب له
Source
binbaz.org.sa
The Arabic text is copied verbatim from the original source, without any edits.
