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Is it permissible to offer a single expiation for multiple oaths taken by a Muslim, both intentionally and unintentionally, after repenting from all of them?

1 min readAlso available in العربية

Excessive swearing is reprehensible in Islamic law, as Allah Almighty says: "And do not obey every frequent swearer, contemptible." Allah has also commanded the preservation of oaths. If a Muslim swears with intention and conviction, then breaks the oath, expiation becomes obligatory. If an oath is repeated concerning the same thing before breaking it, a single expiation suffices. However, if the oaths are numerous concerning different things, then if he breaks all of them, he must expiate for each oath. If he breaks one of them, he expiates for that one. It is also said that a single expiation suffices for all of them, as long as he has not expiated for any of them previously; this latter view is the preferred one in the madhhab of Imam Ahmad. As for what is uttered unintentionally, it is considered laghw (idle talk) and requires no expiation, as Allah Almighty says: "Allah will not impose blame upon you for what is unintentional in your oaths."

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

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