What oaths and vows are

• An oath (yamin) is when you swear by Allah: "By Allah, I will do this" or "By Allah, I will not do that."
• A vow (nadhr) is when you promise Allah an act of worship that was not required of you: "For Allah, I will fast three days."
• The kaffarah (expiation) is what you pay to make up for a broken oath. It wipes it away.

Allah says: do not break your oaths after you have made them firm, because you made Allah your witness¹. But He also made it easy: Allah has made a way for you to free yourselves from your oaths².

Swear only by Allah

Umar once swore by his father. Nabi ﷺ said: Allah forbids you to swear by your fathers. Whoever swears, let him swear by Allah or stay silent³.

• Nabi ﷺ said: whoever swears by other than Allah has done shirk⁴. Scholars say this is minor shirk: a serious sin, but it does not take a person out of Islam.
• So do not swear by your mother or father, your children, your life, the Kaaba, Nabi ﷺ or a saint⁵. Nor by amanah (trust): whoever does is not one of us⁶.
• You may swear by Allah, by His names, or by His attributes. Nabi ﷺ often swore: no, by the One who turns the hearts⁷.
• Swearing by the Quran counts as an oath by Allah for most scholars, because it is His speech.

If it slips out by habit, like "I swear on my mother": Nabi ﷺ said whoever swears by the idols Al-Lat and Al-Uzza should say la ilaha illallah⁸. So say it, ask forgiveness and work on the habit. An oath by other than Allah is not a real oath, so it has no kaffarah.

Three kinds of oath

• Allah says: Allah will not hold you to account for the empty words in your oaths, but for what your hearts meant⁹. Aisha said this came down about a man saying "no, by Allah" and "yes, by Allah" in his talk¹⁰.
• Hanafis and Malikis add: swearing about the past that you truly believed was true, and it was wrong, is also an empty oath. All agree there is no sin in it.
• The binding oath is the one with a kaffarah: He will hold you to account for oaths you made firm¹¹.
• Forgot your oath, or were forced to break it? Shafi'is and Hanbalis say no kaffarah. Hanafis and Malikis say it is still due. Paying it is the safer choice.

When something else is better, break the oath

People swear in anger: "By Allah, I will never speak to him again." Islam does not want you stuck in a bad promise.

• Nabi ﷺ said: when you swear to do something, and then see that something else is better, do the better thing and pay the kaffarah for your oath¹².
• A man came home late, found his children asleep and, upset, swore not to eat. Then he ate. Nabi ﷺ said: let him do the better thing and pay the kaffarah¹³.
• Holding on to an oath that harms your family is a bigger sin than breaking it and paying the kaffarah¹⁴.
• Allah says: do not let your oaths by Allah stop you from doing good and making peace between people¹⁵.
• An oath to do a sin, leave a duty or cut off family must be broken. Nabi ﷺ said it is not allowed to cut off a brother for more than three nights¹⁶.

Abu Bakr once swore to stop helping a poor relative, and Allah sent down an ayah about it¹⁷.

"It is haram on me"

• Some say "this food is haram on me" to mean "I will not eat it." Your words cannot make halal things haram. When Nabi ﷺ said he would not drink honey again, Allah sent down: why do you forbid what Allah made halal for you?²³²⁴.
• Hanafis and Hanbalis treat these words like an oath: if you eat it, pay the kaffarah. Others say the words are empty. If you said it about your wife, ask a scholar.

The kaffarah of an oath

Allah says: its kaffarah is to feed ten poor people with the average food you give your family, or to clothe them, or to free a slave. Whoever cannot, must fast three days²⁵.

• In a row? Hanafis and Hanbalis say the three fasts must be in a row. Malikis and Shafi'is allow them apart. In a row is valid in every school.
• Ten people? Most scholars say ten different poor people. Hanafis allow feeding one poor person on ten days.
• Money? Hanafis allow giving the value. The others say food or clothes. Many charities take kaffarah money and buy the meals for you, which works in every school.
• Before breaking? Most scholars allow paying first. Hanafis say only after. Paying after is valid for all.
• Not to your own parents, children or wife, whom you already support.

Saying "in sha Allah" with an oath

• Nabi ﷺ said: whoever swears and says "in sha Allah" (if Allah wills) has not broken his oath²⁶. So no kaffarah.
• Most scholars say it counts only if you say it joined to the oath, and mean it. Adding it a day later does not help.
• Allah teaches: never say of anything, "I will do it tomorrow," without: if Allah wills²⁷. Nabi ﷺ said if Prophet Sulaiman had said "in sha Allah" with his plan, he would have got what he hoped for²⁸.
• Do not use "in sha Allah" as a polite no. If you will not come, say so kindly.

The false oath

Nabi ﷺ named the biggest sins: shirk, disobeying parents, killing a person, and the ghamus oath²⁹. Ghamus means "drowning": it drowns a person in sin.

• It is swearing by Allah about the past or present that you know is false: "By Allah, I already paid you," when you did not.
• Whoever swears falsely to take a Muslim's property will meet Allah while He is angry with him³⁰³¹.
• What to do: repent sincerely, and give back what you took with it. Allah's door is open.
• Kaffarah? Hanafis, Malikis and Hanbalis say none: the sin is too big, and only repentance wipes it away. Shafi'is say pay the kaffarah as well.

Vows (nadhr)

Do not rush to make vows

• Nabi ﷺ told people not to make vows. A vow does not change anything that is going to happen. It only gets something out of a stingy person³².
• "If Allah heals my mother, I will fast a month" is not a deal with Allah. Better: make dua, and do good freely.

But once you make it, keep it

• Nabi ﷺ said: whoever vows to obey Allah, let him obey Him. Whoever vows to disobey Allah, let him not disobey Him³³.
• Allah praises the righteous: they keep their vows³⁴. Umar had vowed, before Islam, a night of itikaf (staying in the masjid for worship). Nabi ﷺ told him: keep your vow³⁵.

• An old man vowed to walk to the Kaaba and had to be held up by his sons. Nabi ﷺ said: Allah has no need for this man to torture himself, and told him to ride³⁸.
• Abu Israil vowed to stand in the sun, never sit, never speak, and fast. Nabi ﷺ said: let him speak, sit and go in the shade, but finish his fast³⁹. Keep the worship, drop the rest.
• There is no vow in disobeying Allah, or in what a person does not own⁴⁰. The kaffarah of a vow is the kaffarah of an oath⁴¹.

Vows on behalf of the dead

• Sa'd ibn Ubadah's mother died with a vow she had not kept. Nabi ﷺ told him to keep it for her⁴².
• A woman's mother vowed Hajj and died first. Nabi ﷺ said: do Hajj for her. If she owed a debt, would you not pay it? Pay what is owed to Allah⁴³.
• A woman asked about her mother's unkept vowed fast⁴⁴. Nabi ﷺ said: whoever dies owing fasts, his heir fasts for him⁴⁵. Hanbalis allow this for vowed fasts. Hanafis and Malikis say feed a poor person for each day instead.

Guard your tongue

• Do not swear often. Allah says: do not obey every low person who swears a lot⁴⁶.
• In business: Nabi ﷺ said: beware of swearing a lot when selling. It sells the goods, then wipes out the blessing⁴⁷.
• Keep promises even without an oath: keep your promises, you will be asked about them⁴⁸. A broken promise has no kaffarah, but it is still a sin.
• In court, you may swear by Allah or on the Quran. Many courts also let you simply affirm (promise) instead. An oath is judged by what the other side understands, not a hidden meaning: your oath is on what your companion believes you are saying⁴⁹. No word tricks.
• A contract you sign is a promise, not an oath, unless you swore by Allah in it. Allah says: keep your contracts⁵⁰.

Common questions

I swore by Allah never to talk to my cousin again. Now I regret it. What do I do?

Talk to your cousin. Cutting a Muslim off for more than three nights is not allowed⁵¹. Then pay the kaffarah: feed or clothe ten poor people, or if you cannot, fast three days⁵². This is what Abu Bakr did⁵³.

I vowed to fast every Monday. Now it is too hard. Can I stop?

If it is hard only sometimes, like illness or a hard week, make up the missed Mondays later. If you truly cannot keep it, because of health or age, many scholars say pay the kaffarah of an oath and you are free⁵⁴. Allah does not want you to harm yourself⁵⁵. From now on, fast Mondays as a sunnah, without a vow.

I swore in anger to my wife: "By Allah, I will not eat your cooking." What now?

Eat, make peace, and pay the kaffarah. Keeping an oath that harms your family is the bigger sin⁵⁶. If you swore not to be intimate with her for more than four months, that has its own rule⁵⁷. And if you used words of divorce, that is a different matter: ask a scholar soon.

I broke many oaths over the years and do not remember how many. What should I do?

Do not despair. Make your best honest guess and pay a kaffarah for each oath you are fairly sure you broke. Paying more is safer. Many scholars, including Hanbalis, say an oath repeated about one same thing needs one kaffarah. If you cannot afford to feed, fast three days for each. Then repent, and swear less.

I keep saying "I swear on my mother" without thinking. Is that an oath?

It is not a real oath, so there is no kaffarah. But it is not allowed⁵⁸. When it slips out, say la ilaha illallah⁵⁹. Try "honestly" or "truly" instead.

I said "By Allah, I will come tomorrow, in sha Allah," and then I could not go. Do I owe a kaffarah?

No. You joined in sha Allah to the oath, so it is not broken⁶⁰.

My mother vowed to give a sheep to the poor if I recovered, and she died before doing it. Do I need to do it?

If you can, keep it for her. Nabi ﷺ told Sa'd ibn Ubadah to keep his mother's vow for her⁶¹. It is also a gift to her soul.