Darul Iftaa Mahmudiyyah

Kaffarah for breaking an oath

· 15 Jumada II 1440 AH1 min readFatwa 30149English

Question

If a person says Allah I’ll refrain from doing such and such sins and then continues to do them as he realizes that it is not easy or possible to abstain, then how can that person pay a kaffarrah or do something to take those words back once and for all?

Answer

In the Name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful.

As-salāmu ‘alaykum wa-rahmatullāhi wa-barakātuh.

Dear Brother,

If a person tells Allah Ta’ala that he will refrain from sin, then that is a promise. If he commits that sin, then that is a violation of the promise he made for which he has to make tawbah. There is no kaffarah in this situation. Kaffarah is when a person makes a halal thing haram upon himself, for example he says, “if is visit so and so, honey will be haram upon me.”

And Allah Ta’āla Knows Best

Tareque Ahmed

Student Darul Iftaa
New York, USA

Checked and Approved by,
Mufti Ebrahim Desai.

(2019-02-20)

References (Arabic / Urdu sources)

{لَا يُؤَاخِذُكُمُ اللَّهُ بِاللَّغْوِ فِي أَيْمَانِكُمْ وَلَكِنْ يُؤَاخِذُكُمْ بِمَا عَقَّدْتُمُ الْأَيْمَانَ فَكَفَّارَتُهُ إِطْعَامُ عَشَرَةِ مَسَاكِينَ مِنْ أَوْسَطِ مَا تُطْعِمُونَ أَهْلِيكُمْ أَوْ كِسْوَتُهُمْ أَوْ تَحْرِيرُ رَقَبَةٍ فَمَنْ لَمْ يَجِدْ فَصِيَامُ ثَلَاثَةِ أَيَّامٍ ذَلِكَ كَفَّارَةُ أَيْمَانِكُمْ إِذَا حَلَفْتُمْ وَاحْفَظُوا أَيْمَانَكُمْ كَذَلِكَ يُبَيِّنُ اللَّهُ لَكُمْ آيَاتِهِ لَعَلَّكُمْ تَشْكُرُونَ} [المائدة: 89]

Answered by
Tareque Ahmed
Checked & approved by
Mufti Ebrahim Desai
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Source: Darul Iftaa Mahmudiyyah — https://askimam.org/public/question_detail/30149
Fatawa SA: https://fatawa.co.za/fatwa/askimam-30149

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