“Divorce shall be binding upon me if I do such-and-such,” or “… unless I do such-and-such”; and, “If I do such-and-such, my wives are divorced,” or “my slaves are free,” and similar statements—these are the oaths of Muslims according to the Companions and the majority of scholars, and they are binding oaths.

One group, however, said that these fall under the category of swearing by created beings and therefore are not binding. The first view is more correct, and it is the position of the Companions. ‘Umar, Ibn ‘Umar, Ibn ‘Abbās, and others used to prohibit the first type, whereas they would instruct anyone who swore an oath of the second type to offer expiation for his oath, without forbidding him to swear in this manner. This belongs to the same category as swearing by Allah and making vows to Allah. In Sahīh Muslim, the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, is reported to have said:

“The expiation for a vow is the expiation for an oath.”

Thus, if someone says, “I owe it to Allah to do such-and-such,” intending an oath, it is an oath—just as if he says, “I owe such-and-such to Allah,” or, “If I kill so-and-so, I must offer expiation.” This is the position of Ahmad and Abū Hanīfa, and it is also the position mentioned by the Khurāsānī scholars of the Shāfi‘ī school.

Among those who regard this as a binding oath, some hold the person to whatever he has undertaken. Thus, if he breaks his oath, they enforce the vow, divorce, emancipation, zihār, or declaration of unlawfulness. This is Mālik’s view and one of the two positions reported from Abū Hanīfa. Others distinguish divorce and emancipation from the remaining cases; this is the well-known position of al-Shāfi‘ī. Others distinguish vows from the remaining cases; this is the well-known position of Ahmad. Still others distinguish divorce from the remaining cases; this is the position of Abū Thawr.

The correct view is that all these oaths require expiation if they are broken. Breaking them does not make a vow, divorce, emancipation, or declaration of unlawfulness binding upon the person. This is the meaning of the Companions’ statements: explicit reports to this effect have been reliably transmitted from them concerning oaths involving emancipation and vows. Their reasoning and the general wording of their statements