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Is expiation obligatory for an oath sworn concerning an unseen matter, with the deliberate intention of breaking a purpose, and then it becomes clear there was no deliberate intention?

1 min readAlso available in العربية

If you swore an oath based on an assumption or in a state of anger without intending it, then according to the majority of scholars, you do not owe expiation (kaffarah) because it falls under the category of a "laghw" (idle or unintentional) oath. However, if you intended the oath and deliberately swore it falsely about a past event, while knowing it was false, then it is a "yamin ghamoos" (a false oath taken intentionally to usurp a right or to deny one), which is one of the major sins that requires repentance. The majority of jurists hold that there is no expiation for it, whereas the Shafi'is are of the view that expiation is obligatory (which is the more cautious approach): feeding ten poor persons, or clothing them, or emancipating a slave, or, if unable, fasting three days.

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

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