What is the explanation of the hadith: "Whoever swears, saying, 'I am innocent of Islam,' if he is a liar, then he is as he said, and if he is truthful, he will never return to Islam safely"?

The aforementioned hadith forbids a person from saying: "He is a disbeliever" or "He is absolved from Islam" if he does such and such. This has two cases:

1. If the speaker intended disbelief by what he said, then he is a disbeliever as he stated.

2. If he intended to distance himself from the act upon which he conditioned disbelief, then his religion will not be free from deficiency, even if he does not become a disbeliever.

Ibn Raslan clarified in his commentary on Sunan Abi Dawud that whoever swears by being absolved from Islam and intends to be false in his oath, then he is absolved from Islam as he stated, and he becomes a disbeliever immediately. However, if he intended truthfulness in his oath and refraining from the act, then his religion is not free from deficiency.