and I will wear this garment,” then he has the choice, though keeping his oath is preferable.

If his father says to him, “My son, fear Allah. Do not wear a garment that hangs below the ankles,” and he replies, “By Allah, I will wear a garment that trails upon the ground,” then breaking the oath is obligatory, because by breaking it he abandons what is forbidden. The converse is likewise true. Some people rebuke their children if they raise their garments above their ankles. One of them may say to his son, “Your clothes must hang below the ankles, or else I will abandon you!”

So the son says, “By Allah, I will not wear a garment that hangs below the ankles.” In this case, breaking the oath is forbidden, because if he breaks it, he will fall into what is forbidden.

We now come to honoring another’s oath. Honoring another’s oath differs from breaking one’s own oath, for breaking an oath is done by the one who swore it—that is, the oath-taker. Honoring an oath means that someone swears that I should do something. Is it preferable for me to honor his oath, or what?

We say: It is preferable to honor his oath. Indeed, the Prophet ﷺ said, “It is among the rights of one Muslim over another” (1). Thus, if your brother swears that you should do something, it is among his rights upon you that you honor his oath, provided that doing so causes you no harm. But if it would cause you harm, then you are not required to comply. For example, if he says, “By Allah, you must tell me how much wealth you have, how many children you have, how you treat your family, when you sleep, and when you wake up. I adjure you by Allah, the Most High, the Magnificent, to tell me,” then he is not obliged to tell him; rather, it may even be forbidden for him, because there are