Is an expiatory offering (kaffarah) for breaking an oath obligatory upon one who swore to the veracity of a piece of news, believing it to be true, but then it became apparent to him that the news was false, knowing that he did not intentionally lie at the time of swearing?
Source: FtawySummary from Ftawy's records · added here Sep 2, 2026
If someone swears an oath believing something to be true, and it later turns out to be false, this is considered a "laghw" (unintended or vain) oath for which no expiation is required according to many scholars. This is based on the Almighty’s saying: "Allah will not impose blame upon you for what is unintentional in your oaths, but He will impose blame upon you for what your hearts have earned [through intention]" and His saying: "Allah will not impose blame upon you for what is unintentional in your oaths, but He will impose blame upon you for what you intended of oaths."
Summary from Ftawy's records · added here
Reviewed by El Fatwa's sharia committee.
Read the full answer on Ftawyhttps://ftawy.com/en/questions/122201
Where this answer came from
- Source platform
- Ftawy
- Original fatwa ID
- 122201
- Added here
- . This is when the answer was added to El Fatwa, not the fatwa's date.
- Text
- Summary from Ftawy's records, reviewed by El Fatwa's sharia committee.
- Read the full ruling
- Read the full answer on Ftawy