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Is expiation obligatory for one who swore by God that he did not cross a forbidden road, while he is unsure whether he had crossed it previously or not, even though he is certain that he has not crossed it for two years or more?

1 min readAlso available in العربية

There is no expiation for swearing an oath concerning a past event, according to the majority of scholars, whether it is a laghw (vain) oath or a ghamus (perjurious) oath.

If the swearer believes what he is swearing about to be true, then there is no sin or expiation upon him.

However, if he deliberately lied about a past event (ghamūs oath), there is no expiation for it; rather, repentance is obligatory, because it is too grave to be expiated.

As for an oath concerning a past event with doubt about it, the Malikis consider it a ghamūs oath that necessitates sin and repentance, but not expiation.

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

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