my slave, or I must divorce my wife, or I must perform Hajj, or I am consecrated for Hajj, or my wealth is to be given in charity, or I must give charity,” then, according to the majority, expiation for an oath suffices him, as we established above from the Quran, the sunnah, and the consensus of the Companions. The same applies if he says, “If I eat this or drink this, divorce is incumbent upon me,” or “divorce is binding upon me,” or “my wife is divorced,” or “my slaves are free.”

If he says, “Divorce is incumbent upon me; I will not do such-and-such,” or “Divorce is binding upon me; I will not do such-and-such,” this is equivalent to saying, “Hajj is incumbent upon me; I will not do such-and-such,” or “Hajj is binding upon me; I will not do such-and-such.” Both are newly devised oath formulas, neither transmitted from the Arabs nor known among the Companions.

It was only later generations who fashioned oath formulas from these meanings and linked one clause to the other, just as the Muslim Companions and the Arabs used other forms of oath. There is no difference between these and those, except that the statement, “If I do such-and-such, my wealth is to be given in charity,” entails that giving charity becomes obligatory upon his doing the act, whereas the statement, “then my wife is divorced,” entails that the divorce actually occurs. Thus, the wording entails that the divorce takes effect upon the fulfillment of the condition itself, even if he does not subsequently effect a new divorce; but it does not entail that the charitable donation takes effect until he actually makes it.

The distinction relied upon by the jurists who differentiate between the two may be answered in two ways:

First, by denying that the purported distinguishing characteristic exists in some of the original cases serving as the basis of analogy and in some forms of the derivative cases to which the analogy is applied.

Second, by demonstrating that it has no legal effect.

As for the first: if a man says, “If I do such-and-such, then my wealth is to be given in charity,” or “then I am in ritual consecration,” or “then my camel is a sacrificial offering,” what is made contingent upon the condition is the actual occurrence of the charitable donation and entry into ritual consecration,