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What is incumbent upon a girl who vowed to enroll in the Faculty of Sharia and abandon masturbation if she achieved a high score in her secondary school exams, but then broke her vow, returned to the habit, and neglected to enroll in the faculty?

1 min readAlso available in العربية

Scholars differ concerning the phrase "I covenant with Allah concerning such-and-such." The preponderant view is that it is both an oath and a vow if it entails committing to an act of devotion and obedience (such as enrolling in the Sharia department). However, it is only an oath if it entails committing to something that is not an act of devotion. A vow necessitates fulfillment, and expiation for an oath is not sufficient if fulfillment is possible. As for an oath, the one who takes it has the choice between fulfilling it or offering expiation. If someone covenants with Allah to abandon a sin but then commits it, they must, along with repentance, offer expiation for an oath. Based on this, the questioner owes expiation for an oath for not enrolling in the Sharia department, and another expiation for committing the sin which she covenanted with Allah to abandon.

Summarized from the full answer at Ftawy · reviewed Sep 2, 2026

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