—may Allah bless him and grant him peace—or, “He is a disbeliever in Allah Most High if he fails to do such-and-such,” has fallen into the forbidden. Should he then perform what he had negated, or fail to do what he had affirmed, an expiation for an oath becomes obligatory upon him.

Whoever reports about himself, “I swore by Allah,” when in truth he did not swear, is simply telling a lie, and no expiation is required.1

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The expiation for an oath may be fulfilled by choice: feeding ten needy people, clothing them, or freeing a believing slave. If none of these are within his means, he must fast three consecutive days; this is obligatory unless he has a valid excuse.

A slave cannot validly discharge the expiation except through fasting, whereas the opposite applies to a non-Muslim, who cannot discharge it by fasting.

Rendering the expiation either before or after actually breaking the oath is equally valid.

If a person breaks—even a thousand oaths sworn by Allah Most High—without yet making expiation, a single expiation suffices for them all.