Furthermore, Allah, glorified and exalted is He, says:
“O you who believe, do not prohibit the good things Allah has made lawful for you,”
through to His words:
“That is the expiation for your oaths when you have sworn. And guard your oaths.”
The argument drawn from this passage is like that drawn from the first, and stronger still. For He says:
“Do not prohibit the good things Allah has made lawful for you.”
This applies generally to prohibiting them through oaths invoking divorce or anything else. He then explains the way out of this by saying:
“Allah will not hold you accountable for your thoughtless oaths, but He will hold you accountable for the oaths you have bound yourselves by. Its expiation, then…”
That is, the expiation for your making oaths binding, or contracting them. This is general in scope. He then says:
“That is the expiation for your oaths when you have sworn.”
This is general, just as His words “And guard your oaths” are general.
What further clarifies its “general scope” is that they have included oaths invoking divorce within the general meaning of the Prophet’s statement, may Allah bless him and grant him peace:
“Whoever swears an oath and says, ‘If Allah wills,’ may act if he wishes and refrain if he wishes.”
Thus, they included within it oaths invoking divorce, manumission, and vows, as well as oaths sworn by Allah. Mālik, Ahmad, and others excluded an immediate pronouncement of divorce, in agreement with Ibn ‘Abbās, only because actually pronouncing divorce is not swearing an oath. A binding oath must include both something by which one swears and a matter sworn to, whether expressed through an oath formula, a conditional formula, or something equivalent, as we shall explain, if Allah Most High wills.
This argument points to the principles adopted by al-Shāfi‘ī, Ahmad, and those who agree with them concerning “vows made in obstinacy and anger.” They cited this verse as evidence for expiation in such cases, treating His words “release from your oaths” and “the expiation for your oaths” as encompassing both oaths sworn by Allah and oaths invoking vows. It is well known that the wording encompasses vows made in obstinacy and anger equally, whether they concern Hajj, manumission, or similar acts.