A Question on Repeated Oaths
Machine translationRead the Arabic original
Question:
The brother S. A. H. M. came to me at the headquarters of the (Association for Memorizing the Noble Qur'an) in Ta'if on Monday, 22/1/1419 AH. He stated that a severe dispute had arisen between him and his full brothers over a grocery store that was shared between them, except that his father gave the store to two of his brothers and did not give it to the rest.
He (S) said that he has rights in the store. Following this, he became extremely angry and swore repeated oaths, pronounced repeated conditional divorces, and made repeated conditional prohibitions. He said: "By Allah, I will not enter my brothers' houses until the store is returned to all of us." He said: "I am divorced if I enter their houses until the store is returned." He said: "It is forbidden for me to enter their houses until the store is returned," more than once. He said all of this, and added: "Every time people come to me asking me to enter my brothers' houses, I repeat this statement."
He mentioned this in the presence of his wife's father. The aforementioned (S) brought with him two witnesses who testified by the Great Allah that what he stated was everything they had heard from him, because they were acting as mediators between him and his brothers.
(S) says: "As a result of my refusal to enter my brothers' houses, my father responded in kind and boycotted me. He said: 'I will not enter your house until you retract your statement and enter your brothers' houses.' (S) says: 'Now I want to please my father so that I am not undutiful to him. I want to enter my brothers' houses. What is the way out of these repeated oaths, repeated divorces, and repeated prohibitions? This is what is required.'"
May Allah guide you, preserve you, and reward you with good for Islam and the Muslims. And peace be upon you and the mercy of Allah and His blessings.
Answer:
And upon you be peace, and Allah’s mercy and blessings, after that:
Based on what you mentioned above regarding the nature of the divorce, prohibition, and oaths made by the aforementioned (S)—namely, that he would not enter his brothers' houses until he shares in the store with them or they return it to his father—and based on his presence before me and his question about his intention, and his answer that his intention was to refrain from entering his brothers' houses until they share in it with him or return it to his father, and that his intention was not divorce or prohibition, I issued the ruling to him: that he owes an expiation for an oath for all of it; because all of it is considered one oath in the most correct opinion of the scholars. And nothing of the divorce or prohibition takes effect on his wife; due to the saying of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him):Sahih al-Bukhari 1.
I hope you will inform everyone of the aforementioned fatwa, knowing that there is no blame on him for entering his brothers' houses before or after the expiation, but it is better to hasten with the expiation before entering; due to the saying of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him):Sunan an-Nasa'i 3781Hasan (Darussalam).
May Allah guide everyone to what pleases Him. And peace be upon you, and Allah's mercy and blessings.
The brother S. A. H. M. came to me at the headquarters of the (Association for Memorizing the Noble Qur'an) in Ta'if on Monday, 22/1/1419 AH. He stated that a severe dispute had arisen between him and his full brothers over a grocery store that was shared between them, except that his father gave the store to two of his brothers and did not give it to the rest.
He (S) said that he has rights in the store. Following this, he became extremely angry and swore repeated oaths, pronounced repeated conditional divorces, and made repeated conditional prohibitions. He said: "By Allah, I will not enter my brothers' houses until the store is returned to all of us." He said: "I am divorced if I enter their houses until the store is returned." He said: "It is forbidden for me to enter their houses until the store is returned," more than once. He said all of this, and added: "Every time people come to me asking me to enter my brothers' houses, I repeat this statement."
He mentioned this in the presence of his wife's father. The aforementioned (S) brought with him two witnesses who testified by the Great Allah that what he stated was everything they had heard from him, because they were acting as mediators between him and his brothers.
(S) says: "As a result of my refusal to enter my brothers' houses, my father responded in kind and boycotted me. He said: 'I will not enter your house until you retract your statement and enter your brothers' houses.' (S) says: 'Now I want to please my father so that I am not undutiful to him. I want to enter my brothers' houses. What is the way out of these repeated oaths, repeated divorces, and repeated prohibitions? This is what is required.'"
May Allah guide you, preserve you, and reward you with good for Islam and the Muslims. And peace be upon you and the mercy of Allah and His blessings.
Answer:
And upon you be peace, and Allah’s mercy and blessings, after that:
Based on what you mentioned above regarding the nature of the divorce, prohibition, and oaths made by the aforementioned (S)—namely, that he would not enter his brothers' houses until he shares in the store with them or they return it to his father—and based on his presence before me and his question about his intention, and his answer that his intention was to refrain from entering his brothers' houses until they share in it with him or return it to his father, and that his intention was not divorce or prohibition, I issued the ruling to him: that he owes an expiation for an oath for all of it; because all of it is considered one oath in the most correct opinion of the scholars. And nothing of the divorce or prohibition takes effect on his wife; due to the saying of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him):
The reward of deeds depends upon the intentions and every person will get the reward according to what he has intended.
إنما الأعمال بالنيات، وإنما لكل امرئ ما نوىI hope you will inform everyone of the aforementioned fatwa, knowing that there is no blame on him for entering his brothers' houses before or after the expiation, but it is better to hasten with the expiation before entering; due to the saying of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him):
Whoever swears an oath, then sees something better than it, let him do that which is better.
من حلف على يمين ثم رأى غيرها خيرًا منها، فليكفر عن يمينه، وليأت الذي هو خيرMay Allah guide everyone to what pleases Him. And peace be upon you, and Allah's mercy and blessings.
Source
binbaz.org.sa
The Arabic text is copied verbatim from the original source, without any edits.