fulfill what an oath entails. If īlāʾ made it obligatory to fulfill what it entailed—namely, abstaining from intercourse—then intercourse became forbidden. Making intercourse absolutely forbidden necessarily entails the termination of the marital bond, which is divorce. Similarly, if zihār entailed prohibition, that prohibition necessarily entailed the termination of the marital bond, for a wife cannot be absolutely forbidden to her husband. Hence Allah—Glory be to Him—said:

“O Prophet! Why do you prohibit what Allah has made lawful for you, seeking to please your wives? Allah is All-Forgiving, Most Merciful. Allah has already ordained for you the dissolution of your oaths.” [al-Tahrīm: 1–2] [al-Tahrīm: 1, 2]

The word tahilla is a verbal noun of “to release,” equivalent to tahlīl; similarly, takrima is a verbal noun of “to honor,” equivalent to takrīm. This verbal noun is also used to designate the very means by which release is effected, namely expiation. If the verbal-noun sense is intended, the meaning is: Allah has ordained for you the releasing of an oath—that is, its dissolution, which is the opposite of binding it—or its release. Accordingly, some of our companions and others—such as Abu Bakr Abd al-Azīz—cited this verse as evidence that expiation may be offered before the oath is broken. This is because tahilla cannot occur after an oath has been broken, since the oath is dissolved by the very act of breaking it. Rather, tahilla occurs when the expiation is rendered before the oath is broken, so that the oath is thereby dissolved. After the oath has been broken, however, it is merely an expiation, because it expiates the grounds for sin arising from breaking Allah’s covenant.

Once it is clear that Allah has relieved this community, through expiation, of the obligation to fulfill an oath—making expiation a substitute for fulfillment—as part of the [burdens] He has lifted from them, to which He drew attention in His words, “and relieves them of their burden” [al-Araf: 157], then acts fall into three categories: obedience, disobedience, or something permissible. If a person swears [that he will surely perform] a permissible act or that he will surely refrain from it, expiation is prescribed in this case by consensus.