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What is the expiation for one who swore an oath and made a vow, then recanted his oath and vow, and does not remember how many times?

1 min readAlso available in العربية

A Muslim should not frequently swear by Allah, so as not to diminish His reverence. If one swears to do or not to do something permissible or forbidden, and then intentionally, knowingly, and rememberingly breaks the oath, they must offer an expiation for the oath (kaffarat yamin). As for a vow to abandon something forbidden, it is not binding, as abstaining from the forbidden is already an obligation. Some scholars hold that no expiation is required in such a case. If an oath on a single matter is repeatedly broken, there are detailed rulings from scholars. If you are unaware of the expiations and vows that have become binding upon you, you must fulfill them and offer expiations to the extent that you are reasonably certain of clearing your liability. If you are permanently unable to fulfill a vow, an expiation for an oath suffices.

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

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