If Someone Makes Multiple Similar Oaths, How Many Expiations Are Required?

Answered by Shaykh Abdul-Rahim Reasat

Question

If someone makes multiple similar oaths and breaks them, how many expiations are required?

Answer

I pray you are well.

There are a couple of positions on this issue. However, the dominant position in the Hanafi school is that one expiation is required.

This is similar to the kaffara of Ramadan. If a person has broken multiple fasts over multiple years requiring expiation, only one kaffara is necessary.

The Purpose of Kaffara

The point of a kaffara is to serve as a deterrent. It is meant to make a person feel the weight of what they have done and to recognize the sanctity of certain matters.

Ramadan has its sanctity. Likewise, when a person swears an oath, they give something sanctity by mentioning the name of Allah. It is not something to be taken lightly or violated casually.

Practical Advice

If you have broken multiple similar oaths, then perform one kaffara, and it will cover what has passed, insha Allah.

More importantly, stop swearing oaths.

If you broke an oath once, that should have been sufficient to teach you not to make further oaths lightly. Some people swear oaths to stop themselves from doing something, thinking that this will strengthen their resolve. However, willpower is limited. When it weakens, they break their oaths and compound the problem.

Instead of repeatedly swearing oaths, seek alternative and more practical means to prevent yourself from falling into what you are trying to avoid.

[Shaykh] Abdul-Rahim
Checked and Approved by Shaykh Faraz Rabbani

Shaykh Abdul-Rahim Reasat began studying Arabic Grammar and Morphology whilst studying for a degree in English and History. After graduating, He traveled to Damascus and studied Arabic, Hanafi Fiqh, Usul al-Fiqh, Theology, and Logic with Shaykh Adnan Darwish, Shaykh ‘Abd al-Rahman Arjan al-Binsawi, Shaykh Husayn Darwish, Shaykh Muhammad Darwish, the late Shaykh Rashad Shams, and others. He then moved to Amman to continue his studies in those fields, as well as in Tafsir, Quranic Sciences, Hadith Methodology and Commentary, Prophetic Biography, Prophetic Perfections and Traits, Rhetoric, Arabic Literature, and Tajwid. His teachers include Shaykh Ali Hani, Dr. Hamza al-Bakri, Dr. Salah Abu al-Hajj, Dr. Mansur Abu Zina, Shaykh Ahmad Hasanat, Shaykh Ahmad Jammal, and others.