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Is a single expiatory offering (kaffarah) for an oath obligatory, or one for each day, upon one who swore not to stay an extra day at his workplace after the end of his secondment, and was unable to fulfill his oath? And is it permissible for him to fast three days as expiation for his oath, or is feeding (the poor) obligatory?

1 min readAlso available in العربية

If breaking an oath occurred without choice, then there is no expiation required of you according to the majority of scholars. This is because the action of the accountable person in this case is not a sin, and it is more appropriate that he is not considered to have broken the oath, especially since forgetfulness, ignorance, error, and coercion are not within human control. Furthermore, one who is overwhelmed or incapable is even more deserving of not being considered to have broken an oath than one who forgets or is ignorant. Moreover, fasting is not sufficient for expiation of an oath except after being unable to feed or clothe ten poor people. It is permissible in expiation to appoint a trustworthy person to distribute it to those deserving of it.

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

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