1191 – ʿĀʾishah (may Allah be pleased with her) said about the verse, “Allah will not call you to account for what is inadvertent in your oaths” (Q 5:89): “It is a person’s saying, ‘No, by Allah,’ or, ‘Yes, by Allah.’” Al-Bukhārī recorded it; Abū Dāwūd transmitted it as marfūʿ. (1)

Hadith grading:
The report is sound in its mawqūf form, as in al-Bukhārī. Ibn Ḥajar states in Fatḥ al-Bārī, concerning Abū Dāwūd’s marfūʿ version, that Abū Dāwūd pointed out a disagreement among the transmitters from ʿAṭāʾ and from Ibrāhīm over whether it is marfūʿ or mawqūf. Ibn al-Qayyim judged it to be mawqūf, stopping with ʿĀʾishah (may Allah be pleased with her).

Points derived from the hadith:

1. In the verse, “Allah will not call you to account for what is inadvertent in your oaths” (Q 5:89), ʿĀʾishah explained that laghw al-yamin (inadvertent oaths) refers to the phrases that slip off people’s tongues during conversation—such as “No, by Allah,” or “Yes, by Allah”—uttered reflexively, without purposeful intent. This is the view held by the three imams.
   Abū Ḥanīfah, however, maintained that the inadvertent oath mentioned in the verse is when someone swears about a past matter, believing it to be as stated, but reality later shows otherwise. Ibn al-Munḏir said that this is the position of most scholars.
2. The dominant view in Imam Aḥmad’s school is that both of the foregoing kinds fall under the heading of inadvertent oaths. Al-Rawḍ and its marginal notes add: “Likewise, an oath sworn under the impression that one is telling the truth, only for it to become clear …”