If a person swears that he will not do something, then does it while forgetful, coerced, or unaware that it is the very act he had sworn about, he has not broken his oath and no expiation is required. Allah the Exalted says, “Our Lord, do not take us to task if we forget or make a mistake” (2:286). Moreover, an act performed under compulsion is not ascribed to its doer, and Allah has lifted from this ummah the burden of error, forgetfulness, and coercion.

Shaykh al-Islam Ibn Taymiyyah (d. 728 AH) said: “When someone adjures another person intending only to honor him, he is never deemed to have broken his oath—unless his aim was to oblige him, in which case he is liable….” End quote.

Notice

After mentioning the expiation for oaths, Allah Almighty says, “And safeguard your oaths” (5:89). He thus commands that oaths be preserved: one should neither hasten to swear, nor hasten to violate an oath once sworn, nor leave it without expiation. In every respect, the noble verse commands respect for the oath and warns against treating it lightly.

It must also be emphasized that some people, after swearing, devise stratagems to contravene their oaths, thinking that such tricks will spare them the consequences.

Imam Ibn al-Qayyim pointed this out, saying: “Among the invalid and feeble ruses is for someone who has sworn not to eat this loaf, or not to live in the house for the year, or not to eat this food, to be told: ‘Eat the loaf but leave one bite of it; stay in the house the whole year except for one day; eat all of the food except for a tiny portion of it….’”