Allah wills,” then, when left unqualified, the divine will refers back to the act sworn to be performed. The meaning is: “I swear to perform this act if Allah wills that I perform it.” If he does not perform it, Allah did not will it, and he is therefore not bound to do it. Otherwise, if he intended it to refer back to the act of swearing—meaning, “I am swearing if Allah wills me to swear”—the meaning of this would be [the meaning of] qualifying performative declarations, such as divorce and manumission. According to the majority view, this would not avail him.

The same applies to his statement, “Divorce shall be binding upon me: I shall certainly do such-and-such, if Allah wills.” When left unqualified, the divine will refers back to the act. Thus, it means: “I shall certainly do it if Allah wills that I do it.” Whenever he does not do it, Allah did not will it, and divorce is therefore not binding upon him. This is unlike the case in which he means, “Divorce shall be binding upon me if Allah wills it to be binding upon me,” for this is equivalent to saying, “You are divorced, if Allah wills.”

Ahmad’s statement, “The qualification applies only to something for which expiation may be made, whereas divorce and manumission cannot be discharged by expiation,” is an excellent and eloquent statement. As explained above, the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) presented the ruling on qualification and the ruling on expiation in a single construction [in the form of a conditional consequence], using the same formulation. Therefore, no distinction should be made between matters that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) joined together. Moreover, the qualification applies only to that which is made contingent upon it—namely, the act. Legal consequences such as divorce, manumission, and the like are not made contingent upon Allah’s will once their operative causes exist, for they necessarily follow from the existence of their causes. Once their causes have been established, Allah has willed them. What is made contingent upon the divine will consists only of future events that Allah may or may not will, such as the actions of His servants and the like.

Expiation was prescribed only for a breach arising from an oath that may either be fulfilled through compliance or violated through breach. Thus, expiation becoming obligatory upon the breach of an oath that admits of compliance and contravention is analogous to the oath’s being nullified