you break them is as follows: feed ten needy people from the average of what you feed your own household—that is, from the best and most wholesome fare you normally provide—or clothe them with garments suitable for prayer, or free a slave. The majority stipulate that the slave must be a believer. The Qur’an begins with the easiest option, and whichever of these three a person performs is sufficient by unanimous agreement.

The majority further require that the three days of fasting be consecutive, following the reading of ʿAbd Allah ibn Masʿūd: “then fasting three consecutive days.”

Many ordinary people err at this point: they imagine that fasting is an equal alternative to the other forms of expiation, so they fast even though they are able to feed or clothe the poor. In such a case their fasting is invalid and does not clear them of the expiation for the oath, for fasting is acceptable only when one is unable to feed, clothe, or emancipate. This matter therefore needs to be clarified.

It is permissible to offer the expiation before breaking the oath and permissible to delay it until after the breach. If one offers it beforehand, it renders the oath lawful; if afterward, it expiates the violation.

The evidence is the authentic report in the two Ṣaḥīḥs in which the Prophet ﷺ said, “When you swear an oath and then see that something else is better, do what is better and make expiation for your oath.” This indicates