then breaking the oath is obligatory, because fulfilling the obligation depends upon it. When fulfilling an obligation depends upon breaking an oath, breaking it becomes obligatory.

If a man becomes angry with someone and says, “By Allah, I will strike him with a stone until I wound him,” then he is obliged to break his oath, because refraining from what is prohibited depends upon breaking it. When refraining from what is prohibited depends upon breaking an oath, breaking it becomes obligatory.

If not breaking the oath is what is better, then we say to him: Do not break your oath. This applies when one swears to refrain from something prohibited or to do something obligatory; in such cases, breaking the oath is forbidden. For example, if a father says to his son, “Do not pray with the congregation,” and the son says, “By Allah, I will pray with the congregation,” then breaking the oath is forbidden, and he must pray with the congregation.

Likewise, if he says, “By Allah, I will not steal today,” then breaking the oath is forbidden. Even if he intends to steal but does not do so, this is forbidden to him. If he steals, he must offer expiation along with bearing the sin, and his hand is to be cut off if the conditions are fulfilled.

An example of disliked oath-breaking is when one swears to refrain from something disliked—for instance, if he says, “By Allah, I will not turn my head during the prayer.” Turning one’s head during the prayer is disliked, so we say: breaking the oath here is disliked, namely, turning his head during his prayer.

If he says, “By Allah, I will not eat onions,” and he is going to pray in congregation, while fifteen minutes remain until the call to prayer, then breaking the oath is disliked, because he is able to wait until he has prayed. If he eats them in order not to pray, it becomes forbidden.

An example of permissible oath-breaking is when he says, “By Allah, I will not wear this garment,”