Oath of divorce to clothe his cousins, but he was unable to do so
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The listener Muhammad al-Rayh Abdullah sent a message saying: I swore by divorce that I would clothe my cousins, and they were young at the time, but I have not been able to do so until now, and the girls have grown up. How should I proceed?
Answer: This varies according to the intention. If you said, “It is obligatory upon me by divorce to clothe my cousins,” and your intention was, meaning: if it becomes easy, you did not intend it to be done immediately, but rather whenever it becomes easy, then you clothe them when it becomes easy. However, if you intended a specific day, a specific month, or a specific year, then you are bound by your intention. If that time passes and you have not done it, the divorce takes effect if you intended to effect the divorce. But if you did not intend to effect the divorce, and rather you intended to urge yourself, not to effect the divorce, and your intention was to affirm to yourself and oblige yourself to provide clothing, and you did not intend to separate from your family or effect divorce upon them, then an oath expiation is upon you according to the intention, based on the saying of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him): And a group of the Salaf issued a ruling on this matter with this meaning.
So if your intention with the divorce was to oblige yourself to provide clothing and to urge yourself to do so, and you did not intend to effect divorce upon your family if you did not clothe your cousins, then no divorce takes effect even if you do not clothe them, and you must expiate with an oath expiation. This is feeding ten poor people, or clothing ten of them, by providing them breakfast or dinner, or giving each one half a sa' of the local staple food, such as dates or otherwise, or giving each one a shirt or an izar and a rida, which constitutes clothing. And whoever is unable, being a poor person who is incapable, fasts for three days. There is also the freeing of a slave. If he breaks his oath, he has a choice between three things: feeding ten poor people, or clothing them, or freeing a slave. If he is unable, he fasts for three days, as He, the Exalted, specified in Surat al-Ma'idah.
And Allah, Glorified and Exalted is He, explained the oath expiation with a sufficient explanation. He, the Exalted, said: [Al-Ma'idah: 89] This verse is from Surat al-Ma'idah.
So the believer should guard his oath and strive to avoid swearing except when there is a need for it. And when he swears, he should strive to fulfill the oath if he is able and if the benefit lies in fulfilling the oath. But if the benefit requires not fulfilling it and breaking the oath, then he breaks it and expiates, as the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said:Sahih al-Bukhari 6622 And he said (peace and blessings be upon him): Sahih al-Bukhari 6718 Thus the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said. So if a person says, “By Allah, I will not speak to so-and-so,” or “I will not greet him,” and then he sees that the benefit requires him to speak to him and greet him, and there is no reason for boycotting him and no basis for boycotting him, then he breaks his oath, greets him, speaks to him, and expiates for his oath.
Or if he said, “By Allah, I will not give charity today,” he expiates for his oath and gives charity. Or if he said, “By Allah, I will not perform Hajj this year,” and then he wishes to perform Hajj, he performs Hajj and expiates for his oath; because this is better.
And so on with what is similar to this. Yes.
The presenter: May Allah reward you with good.
Answer: This varies according to the intention. If you said, “It is obligatory upon me by divorce to clothe my cousins,” and your intention was, meaning: if it becomes easy, you did not intend it to be done immediately, but rather whenever it becomes easy, then you clothe them when it becomes easy. However, if you intended a specific day, a specific month, or a specific year, then you are bound by your intention. If that time passes and you have not done it, the divorce takes effect if you intended to effect the divorce. But if you did not intend to effect the divorce, and rather you intended to urge yourself, not to effect the divorce, and your intention was to affirm to yourself and oblige yourself to provide clothing, and you did not intend to separate from your family or effect divorce upon them, then an oath expiation is upon you according to the intention, based on the saying of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him):
Actions are only by intentions
إنما الأعمال بالنياتSo if your intention with the divorce was to oblige yourself to provide clothing and to urge yourself to do so, and you did not intend to effect divorce upon your family if you did not clothe your cousins, then no divorce takes effect even if you do not clothe them, and you must expiate with an oath expiation. This is feeding ten poor people, or clothing ten of them, by providing them breakfast or dinner, or giving each one half a sa' of the local staple food, such as dates or otherwise, or giving each one a shirt or an izar and a rida, which constitutes clothing. And whoever is unable, being a poor person who is incapable, fasts for three days. There is also the freeing of a slave. If he breaks his oath, he has a choice between three things: feeding ten poor people, or clothing them, or freeing a slave. If he is unable, he fasts for three days, as He, the Exalted, specified in Surat al-Ma'idah.
And Allah, Glorified and Exalted is He, explained the oath expiation with a sufficient explanation. He, the Exalted, said:
Allah will not impose blame upon you for what is meaningless in your oaths, but He will impose blame upon you for [breaking] what you intended of oaths. So its expiation is the feeding of ten needy people from the average of that which you feed your [own] families or clothing them or the freeing of a slave. But whoever cannot find [or afford it] - then a fast of three days [is required]. That is the expiation for oaths when you have sworn. But guard your oaths
لا يُؤَاخِذُكُمُ اللَّهُ بِاللَّغْوِ فِي أَيْمَانِكُمْ وَلَكِنْ يُؤَاخِذُكُمْ بِمَا عَقَّدْتُمُ الأَيْمَانَ فَكَفَّارَتُهُ إِطْعَامُ عَشَرَةِ مَسَاكِينَ مِنْ أَوْسَطِ مَا تُطْعِمُونَ أَهْلِيكُمْ أَوْ كِسْوَتُهُمْ أَوْ تَحْرِيرُ رَقَبَةٍ فَمَنْ لَمْ يَجِدْ فَصِيَامُ ثَلاثَةِ أَيَّامٍ ذَلِكَ كَفَّارَةُ أَيْمَانِكُمْ إِذَا حَلَفْتُمْ وَاحْفَظُوا أَيْمَانَكُمْSo the believer should guard his oath and strive to avoid swearing except when there is a need for it. And when he swears, he should strive to fulfill the oath if he is able and if the benefit lies in fulfilling the oath. But if the benefit requires not fulfilling it and breaking the oath, then he breaks it and expiates, as the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said:
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 خيراً منها فكفر عن يمينك وأت الذي هو خيرBy Allah, Allah willing, if I ever take an oath, and then see that another is better than the first, I make expiration for my (dissolved) oath, and do what is better and make expiration.
والله إني إن شاء الله لا أحلف على يمين فأرى غيرها خيراً منها، إلا كفرت عن يميني وأتيت الذي هو خيرOr if he said, “By Allah, I will not give charity today,” he expiates for his oath and gives charity. Or if he said, “By Allah, I will not perform Hajj this year,” and then he wishes to perform Hajj, he performs Hajj and expiates for his oath; because this is better.
And so on with what is similar to this. Yes.
The presenter: May Allah reward you with good.
Source
binbaz.org.sa
The Arabic text is copied verbatim from the original source, without any edits.