There are also His words, glorified and exalted is He:

“Do not make Allah, through your oaths, an obstacle to doing good, being pious, and making peace between people. Allah is All-Hearing, All-Knowing.”

The early generations unanimously, or almost unanimously, understood this to mean that, when you swear by Allah, you must not make Him an obstacle to goodness, piety, and reconciliation between people. For example, a man might swear not to perform a recommended or obligatory good deed, or swear to do something disliked or forbidden, or something similar. Then, when told, “Do that,” or, “Do not do this,” he replies, “I have sworn by Allah!” He thus makes Allah an obstacle by invoking Him in his oath.

Now, Allah has forbidden His servants to make Him, through their oaths, an obstacle to goodness and piety. If swearing these other oaths falls within the general scope of swearing by Him, it must not constitute an obstacle either. This follows by reasoning from the greater to the lesser: if He, glorified is He, has forbidden us to make Him an obstacle, through our oaths, to goodness and piety, then we are all the more clearly forbidden to make anything else such an obstacle.

Once it is clear that we are forbidden to make anything, through our oaths, an obstacle to doing good, being pious, and making peace between people, it is evident that this is because goodness, piety, and reconciliation embody what Allah loves and commands. Thus, if a man swears an oath involving a vow, divorce, or emancipation that he will not do good, act piously, or bring about reconciliation, he faces two alternatives. If he keeps his oath, he has made these things an obstacle, through that oath, to doing good, being pious, and making peace between people. If he breaks it, divorce takes effect and he becomes obliged to perform what he vowed. Yet separation from his wife may take him further from goodness and piety than the conduct specified in his oath.

If he maintains his oath, he forsakes goodness and piety; and if he parts with his wife and wealth, he forsakes goodness and piety. These things have thus become an obstacle, through his oath, to doing good and being pious. There is no way out of this predicament except through expiation.