Is Expiation Required If I Made Oaths in the Past but I’m Unsure If I Was Mature?

Answered by Mawlana Ilyas Patel

Question

I made many oaths when I was young, but I’m unsure if I was mature enough for them to count. Is tawba without kaffara enough for broken oaths, or is kaffara required as part of repentance? I’m worried this will affect my faith.

Answer

In the Name of Allah, the Most Merciful and Compassionate

I pray you are in good faith and health. Thank you for your question and for seeking an Islamic answer to fulfill your religious obligations.

If you are unsure whether you had reached puberty when you made the oaths, you do not need to pay an expiation. However, if you want to remove any doubt, you may choose to pay an expiation out of caution. Seek forgiveness for the past and continue doing it for the future. As Muslims, we should do so anyway. Do not worry about it later.

The Method of the Expiation

The method of the Expiation of an oath (or vow is as follows):

1. The expiation of an oath is:

• Freeing a slave. (which is not applicable today) or,
• If one wishes, he may clothe ten destitute people, [giving] each of them one garment or more, the minimum of [each] being that in which salah is valid, [or]
• If one wishes, he may feed ten destitute people

2. If one is not capable of any of these three things, one fast for three consecutive days.

[IbnʿAbidin, Radd al-Muhtar]

Unnecessary Oaths

Scholars advise against unnecessarily using oaths with Allah’s name, like Wallahi, especially for trivial matters, whether related to Islam or worldly affairs.  Some people have a habit of using oaths in every sentence, which is considered disrespectful as it involves using Allah’s name in nearly every statement.

I would like you to go through the valuable answers and the links below. In sha Allah, you will receive guidance and direction.

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• Key Principles Relating to Certainty, Doubt, and Baseless Misgivings (waswasa) – SeekersGuidance
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• Being Balanced – Emotional and Mental Health – Shaykh Abdul-Rahim Reasat

Why not begin your search for knowledge by signing up for a course on SeekersAcademy?

I pray this helps with your question.

Wassalam,
[Mawlana] Ilyas Patel
Checked and Approved by Shaykh Abdul-Rahim Reasat

Mawlana Ilyas Patel is a traditionally-trained scholar who has studied in the UK, India, Pakistan, Syria, Jordan, and Turkey. He started his early education in the UK. He went on to complete the hifz of the Quran in India, then enrolled in an Islamic seminary in the UK, where he studied the secular and ‘Aalimiyya sciences. He then traveled to Karachi, Pakistan. He has been an Imam in Rep of Ireland for several years. He has taught hifz of the Quran, Tajwid, Fiqh, and many other Islamic sciences to children and adults onsite and online extensively in the UK and Ireland. He taught at a local Islamic seminary for 12 years in the UK, where he was a librarian and a teacher of Islamic sciences. He currently resides in the UK with his wife. His interest is a love of books and gardening.