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The question

What should one do who made a vow to Allah in a moment of anger and now wishes to retract it?

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Source: FtawySummarized from the full answer at Ftawy · reviewed Sep 2, 20261 min readAlso available in العربية
The answer

Allah Almighty commanded the fulfillment of covenants, both with Him and with creation, as He said: "And fulfill the covenant of Allah when you have covenanted." So, whoever covenants with Allah for an act of obedience is bound to fulfill it, according to the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him: "Whoever vows to obey Allah, let him obey Him." However, if he is unable to fulfill it, he must offer expiation for an oath (kaffarat yamin). But if he covenants with Allah for an act of disobedience, it is not permissible to fulfill it, for the Prophet said: "Whoever vows to disobey Allah, let him not disobey Him," and he must repent and offer expiation for an oath. Similarly, if one covenants with Allah for a matter and then sees something else as better, he is not obligated to fulfill that covenant; rather, he must offer expiation for an oath.

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

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