Here an objection may be raised by one who says: Every oath that is not religiously sanctioned entails neither expiation nor breach.

The response is that the term “oath” encompasses all of these cases. This is demonstrated by the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), the Companions, and the scholars all applying the designation “oath” to them. The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said, “A vow is an oath.” The Companions said to someone who had sworn an oath involving a sacrificial offering and manumission, “Expiate your oath.” The Companions likewise understood this from the Prophet’s words (peace and blessings be upon him), as we shall mention. The scholars also treated this as falling under the Prophet’s statement (peace and blessings be upon him): “Whoever swears an oath and says, ‘If Allah wills,’ may act if he wishes or refrain if he wishes.”

Its general scope in the verse is also shown by Allah’s words: “Why do you forbid yourself what Allah has made lawful for you?” [al-Tahrīm: 1] He then said: “Allah has already ordained for you the dissolution of your oaths.” [al-Tahrīm: 2] This entails that forbidding oneself what is lawful is itself an oath, as Ibn Abbas and others inferred from the verse. The occasion of its revelation was either the Prophet’s declaring honey forbidden to himself or his declaring Māriya the Copt forbidden to himself. On either account, according to the apparent sense of the verse, forbidding oneself what is lawful is an oath, though it is not an oath by Allah. For this reason, the majority of the Companions—including Umar, Uthman, Abdullah ibn Masud, Abdullah ibn Abbas (may Allah be pleased with them), and others—ruled that declaring something lawful forbidden to oneself is an oath that may be expiated: either through the greater expiation applicable to zihār, or through the lesser expiation applicable to an oath by Allah. The early generations consistently called zihār and similar declarations oaths.

Furthermore, His words, “Why do you forbid yourself what Allah has made lawful for you?” [al-Tahrīm: 1], may mean: Why do you forbid it by using the word “forbidden”? Or: Why do you forbid it through an oath by Allah or the like? Or: Why do you forbid it at all? If the first or third meaning is intended, it has been established [that] forbidding it without swearing by Allah is an oath, [and thus the wording is general in scope]. But if what is intended is forbidding it by swearing by Allah,