What Do I Have to Do After Breaking an Oath?

Answered by Shaykh Abdul-Rahim Reasat

Question

I made an oath that if I commit a certain sin, then I will fast for 40 days.

Due to temptation, I have committed that very sin. Do I have to fast for 40 days?

Answer

I pray you are well.

You may fast the 40 days, or perform the expiation of an oath; the choice is yours. Normally, if someone swears the he will perform a particular act of worship if a particular situation takes place (nadhr), he must do so if he the condition occurs. However, in your situation, your intention was to avoid a particular sin so this is also considered an oath from one perspective. Therefore, you may perform the expiation of an oath to absolve yourself should you choose to do so (Ibn Abidin, Radd al-Muhtar).

Options

You have two options:

1. Fast for 40 days.

2. Perform the expiation of an oath, which is either:

a. Feeding 10 poor people

b. Clothing ten poor people.

If you cannot feed or clothe them, then fasting for three consecutive days will cover it.

Feeding the ten poor people is with two satiating meals on one day, or feeding one poor person for ten days. An alternative is to give them / him the monetary equivalent of the food instead. The amount payable is the value of 2.6 kgs or wheat flour, or 5.2 kgs of dates (al-Lubab, ed. Bashar Barkri ʿArabi). This amount was roughly the same in the past, but with wheat flour being much cheaper in our times it would be superior to give value of the dates, although the former is valid nonetheless.

Clothing them is with a normal set of clothes of medium quality or it’s monetary value.

May Allah grant you the best of both worlds.

Wassalam,
[Shaykh] Abdul-Rahim Reasat

Shaykh Abdul-Rahim Reasat began his studies in Arabic Grammar and Morphology in 2005. After graduating with a degree in English and History he moved to Damascus in 2007 to study and sit at the feet of some of the most erudite scholars of our time.

Over the following eighteen months he studied a traditional curriculum, studying with scholars such as Shaykh Adnan Darwish, Shaykh Abdurrahman Arjan, Shaykh Hussain Darwish and Shaykh Muhammad Darwish.

In late 2008 he moved to Amman, Jordan, where he continued his studies for the next six years, in Fiqh, Usul al-Fiqh, Theology, Hadith Methodology and Commentary, Shama’il, and Logic with teachers such as Dr Ashraf Muneeb, Dr Salah Abu’l-Hajj, Dr Hamza al-Bakri, Shaykh Ahmad Hasanat, Dr Mansur Abu Zina amongst others. He was also given two licences of mastery in the science of Qur’anic recital by Shakh Samir Jabr and Shaykh Yahya Qandil.

His true passion, however, arose in the presence of Shaykh Ali Hani, considered by many to be one of the foremost tafsir scholars of our time who provided him with the keys to the vast knowledge of the Quran. With Shaykh Ali, he was able to study an extensive curriculum of Qur’anic Sciences, Tafsir, Arabic Grammar, and Rhetoric.

When he finally left Jordan for the UK in 2014, Shaykh Ali gave him his distinct blessing and still recommends students in the UK to seek out Shaykh Abdul-Rahim for Quranic studies. Since his return he has trained as a therapist and has helped a number of people overcome emotional and psychosomatic issues. He is a keen promoter of emotional and mental health.