he had sworn that he would not continue living with the other person in that house. If either of them leaves at once, he has not broken his oath; the same applies when a wall is put up between them so that, according to the sounder view, each part has its own entrance. If a man swears that he will not enter the house while he is already inside, or that he will not leave it while he is already outside, no perjury is involved. Should he swear that he will not marry, perform purification, put on clothes, mount an animal, stand, or sit, and then remains in any of those states, he is considered perjured.

I say: to count mere continuation of marriage or of a state of ritual purity as a violation is an error born of oversight. Likewise, merely remaining perfumed is not regarded as fresh perfuming, according to the sound opinion; the same holds for ongoing sexual intercourse, fasting, or prayer. Allah knows best.

Whoever swears not to enter a house breaks his oath by stepping into the vestibule inside the door or the space between a pair of doors, but not by entering the archway in front of the door, nor by going up to an unenclosed roof—and, on the sounder view, not even to an enclosed roof. Putting in only a hand, head, or one foot does not violate the oath, but placing both feet inside and resting his weight on them does.

If the building has collapsed yet the foundations remain and he enters, he is perjured; but if the site has become open ground, or has been turned into a mosque, bathhouse, or garden, he is not.

One who swears not to enter the house of Zayd breaks the oath by entering any dwelling that Zayd both owns and inhabits, but not one that Zayd occupies by loan, lease, or usurpation—unless the swearer specifically meant Zayd’s residence. He also breaks the oath by entering any property Zayd owns but does not occupy, unless he had in mind only Zayd’s dwelling.

If a man swears not to enter Zayd’s house, or not to speak to Zayd’s slave or wife, and Zayd subsequently sells the slave or divorces the wife, the swearer incurs no perjury by entering or speaking—unless he said, “this house of his,” “this wife of his,” or “this slave of his,” in which case he does, unless he intended “so long as they belong to him.”

If he swears, “I will not enter it through this door,” and the door is later removed and fixed elsewhere in the same house, entering by the new doorway does not break the oath, whereas entering by the original opening does, according to the sounder view.

One who swears not to enter a “house” violates the oath by entering any structure of clay, stone, brick, wood, or even a tent, but not by entering a mosque, bathhouse, church, or mountain cave.

If he swears not to “enter upon Zayd” and then goes into a room containing Zayd and others, he is perjured. Another opinion holds that if he intended to visit someone else there, excluding Zayd, he is not; and if he was unaware of Zayd’s presence, the ruling follows the earlier disagreement over unintended perjury in such cases.

I say: If he swears not to greet Zayd with salām, then offers salām to a group in which Zayd is present while expressly excluding him, he is not perjured; but if the greeting is general, he is, according to the more apparent view. Allah knows best.