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Does expiation for breaking an oath become obligatory for someone who broke their oath by masturbating while semi-asleep?

1 min readAlso available in العربية

If a sleeping person does something that necessitates expiation (kaffara) while being aware of what he is doing (during a light sleep), then he must perform the expiation for an oath: feeding ten poor persons, or clothing them, or freeing a slave. If he cannot find any of these, then fasting for three days. However, if he does so without awareness or perception, then there is nothing upon him, due to the saying of Ibn Qudama: "The pen is lifted from the sleeper." It is a condition that he be an adult; if he has not reached puberty, then there is no expiation upon him, due to the saying of the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him: "The pen has been lifted from three: from the insane person… and from the sleeper until he awakens, and from the child until he reaches puberty."

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

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