to buy it, saying, “I intended only that I would not personally carry out the purchase,” then we say: in that case, he has not broken his oath.

If someone asks: What purpose would this serve?

We say: He may fear that if he goes to so-and-so and says, “Sell me your car,” the man will say, “Take it without payment,” or, if it is worth ten, he may say, “I will sell it to you for eight.” But if he acquires it through someone else, the seller will collect the full price.

The point is that if he swears not to do something and then appoints someone to do it, he breaks his oath—unless he intended that he himself would not personally carry it out. If he says, “By Allah, I will not pray two rak‘ahs of the Duha prayer,” and then appoints someone to pray on his behalf, such an appointment is invalid in the first place. Even if that man prays on his behalf, he has not broken his oath, because he derives no benefit from that prayer whatsoever.

“Customary usage is that whose figurative meaning has become widespread and has prevailed over its original meaning, such as rāwiyah (a water-skin) and ghā’iṭ (excrement), and the like. Thus, an oath is governed by customary usage. So, if he swears regarding intercourse with his wife, or regarding treading upon a house, his oath relates to having intercourse with her and entering the house, ........................................”

His statement, “Customary usage is that whose figurative meaning has become widespread and has prevailed over its original meaning, such as rāwiyah and ghā’iṭ, and the like. Thus, an oath is governed by customary usage”: It would have been better had the author discussed customary usage first.

His words, “that whose figurative meaning has become widespread and has prevailed over its original meaning,” refer to what people use in their customary speech. Thus, an oath is interpreted according to customary usage, taking precedence over linguistic usage when it has become widespread among people and has prevailed over the original meaning. What the author means here by “the original meaning” is the linguistic meaning. So, when this meaning has become widespread among people and the original linguistic meaning has fallen out of use, the author says, “an oath is governed by customary usage”; the expression is understood according to its customary meaning, even if it has a meaning in the language, but