Mūsā, that he said:

“Whoever swears an oath and then sees that another course is better should do what is better and offer expiation for his oath.”

The same meaning is reported in the two Sahīh collections in hadiths narrated by Abū Hurayrah, Abū Mūsā, and ‘Abd al-Rahmān ibn Samurah. This encompasses all the oaths of Muslims: whoever swears any such oath and breaks it, expiation for an oath suffices him.

As for someone who swears a polytheistic oath—for example, by his father’s grave, the Kaaba, the sultan’s favour, the shaykh’s life, or any other created thing—such an oath is not binding, and no expiation is due if he breaks it, by agreement of the scholars.

The third category

This consists of expressions that make divorce, manumission, or a vow conditional upon something. For example, someone says, “If such-and-such happens, divorce shall be binding upon me,” or “Hajj shall be binding upon me,” or “My slaves shall be free,” and similar expressions.

Here, his intention must be considered. If he intends to swear an oath by this, rather than intending these matters to take effect—as when he does not intend divorce to take effect if the condition is fulfilled—then his case is treated as that of someone taking an oath, and falls under the rules governing oaths.

If, however, he intends these matters to take effect—as when he intends divorce to take effect upon fulfilment of the condition—an example is his saying to his wife, “If you absolve me in respect of your divorce, you are divorced,” and she absolves him. Another example is when he intends to divorce her if she commits an indecent act, and says, “If you do such-and-such, you are divorced.”

This differs from someone whose purpose is to swear an oath concerning her conduct in order to restrain her, but who would have no wish to divorce her even if she did it. Sometimes divorcing her is more abhorrent to him than the condition being fulfilled; in that case, he is taking an oath. At other times, the objectionable condition is more abhorrent to him than divorcing her; in that case, he brings divorce into effect upon the occurrence of