Al-Sharḥ al-Mumtiʿ - Ibn al-'Uthaymin - (15/126)

Al-Sharḥ al-MumtiʿIbn al-'Uthaymin

then its expiation is to feed ten poor persons with the average of what you feed your own families, or to clothe them, or to free a slave. But whoever cannot afford this must fast for three days. That is the expiation for the oaths you have sworn. And safeguard your oaths.” [al-Ma'idah 5:89]

The command to safeguard them includes the command to offer expiation, because this is part of safeguarding them.

Likewise, the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, said: “If you swear an oath and then see that something else is better than it, offer expiation for your oath.” (1) Thus, he commanded expiation, and the basic principle regarding a command is that it denotes obligation.

His statement, “expiation”: this is derived from kafr, meaning concealment. The basic principle is that, when a person swears an oath, he is required to fulfil it, because he has sworn by something great. Part of its greatness is that one fulfils what one has sworn to do, for an oath is, in reality, an affirmation of something through the greatness of that by which one swears. If one violates this affirmation, it is as though one has indicated a violation of the greatness of that by which one swore. This is why expiation is obligatory. Had Allah Most High not shown mercy to His servants, whoever swore to do something would have been required to fulfil it in every circumstance, except in cases of necessity.

His statement, “The first: that the oath be binding,” meaning one that is established and confirmed. This is because the binding of something means that it is like a firm knot, fastening that which is tied by it. But its legal definition, as the author states, is:

(1) Narrated by al-Bukhari in al-Ayman wa al-Nudhur (Oaths and Vows), chapter: “Allah does not hold you accountable for unintentional oaths” (Quran 2:225), no. 6622; and by Muslim in al-Nadhr (Vows), chapter: “The recommendation for one who swears an oath and then sees something better than it to do what is better and expiate for his oath,” no. 1652, on the authority of Abd al-Rahman ibn Samurah.

فَكَفَّارَتُهُ إِطْعَامُ عَشَرَةِ مَسَاكِينَ مِنْ أَوْسَطِ مَا تُطْعِمُونَ أَهْلِيكُمْ أَوْ كِسْوَتُهُمْ أَوْ تَحْرِيرُ رَقَبَةٍ فَمَنْ لَمْ يَجِدْ فَصِيامُ ثَلَاثَةِ أَيَّامٍ ذَلِكَ كَفَّارَةُ أَيْمَانِكُمْ إِذَا حَلَفْتُمْ وَاحْفَظُوا أَيْمَانَكُمْ﴾ [المائدة: ٨٩]. فإن الأمر بحفظها يتناول الأمر بالكفارة؛ لأن ذلك من حفظها. وكذلك قال النبي ﷺ: «إذا حلفت على يمين فرأيت غيرها خيراً منها، فكفِّر عن يمينك» (١)، فأمر بالتكفير، والأصل في الأمر الوجوب. وقوله: «الكفارة» من الكفر وهي الستر؛ وذلك أن الأصل أن الإنسان إذا حلف وجب عليه إتمام الحلف؛ لأنه حلف بعظيم، ومن عظمته أن تقوم بما حلفت به عليه؛ لأن الحلف في الواقع تأكيد للشيء بعظمة المحلوف به، فإذا انتهكت هذا التأكيد فهو كالإشارة إلى انتهاك عظمة المحلوف به، فلهذا وجبت الكفارة، ولولا أن الله تعالى رحم العباد لكان من حلف على شيء وجب عليه أن يتمه بكل حال، إلا لضرورة. قوله: «الأول: أن تكون اليمين منعقدة» وهي التي تثبت وتتأكد؛ لأن انعقاد الشيء معناه أن يكون كالعقدة ثابتة، ومثبِّتة للمعقود بها، لكن تعريفها شرعاً: يقول المؤلف:

(١) أخرجه البخاري في الأيمان والنذور/ باب قول الله تعالى: ﴿لَا يُؤَاخِذُكُمُ اللَّهُ بِاللَّغْوِ فِي أَيْمَانِكُمْ﴾ (٦٦٢٢)، ومسلم في النذر/ باب ندب من حلف يميناً فرأى غيرها خيراً منها أن يأتي الذي هو خير ويكفر عن يمينه (١٦٥٢) عن عبد الرحمن بن سمرة ﵁.