His statement, “I swear by Allah,” or “by such-and-such,” means: “I bind it to Him and attach it to Him.” Hence a constant companion is called a halīf, as ‘Uthmān was called “the constant companion of the prayer niche”; and its underlying cause never fails to produce its effect. Thus it has been said that the particle bā (by) attaches the matter sworn to to the one by whom the oath is sworn. The lām introducing the sworn declaration supplies a second emphasis, as though he were saying: “I attach and bind to Allah the substance of my declaration: I shall certainly do it.”

This is why offering expiation before breaking an oath is called “release”: it dissolves the bond established through the one by whom the oath was sworn, just as rescinding a sale dissolves the contractual bond between seller and buyer. The Lawgiver has therefore classed oaths among contracts that may be dissolved by providing this substitute, rather than those that are unconditionally binding. Since the bond connects the matter sworn to with the one by whom the oath is sworn—Allah, glorified be He—He has permitted His servant to dissolve this bond, contracted “for Me and by Me,” through expiation, which is an act of worship and a means of drawing near to Him.

The servant thus has the choice between fulfilling his undertaking and dissolving it through the prescribed substitute, since it was he who bound the matter sworn to to Allah, glorified be He. Similarly, in the early days of Islam, they were given the choice between observing the fasting He had prescribed and forgoing it through expiation. Likewise, someone who performs ‘umrah during the months of Hajj and wishes to perform Hajj that same year has the choice between undertaking a separate journey for Hajj and dispensing with that journey by making the sacrificial offering for combining ‘umrah and Hajj. He thus has the choice of completing his Hajj through either the journey or the offering.

This is why we have said that it is not a compensatory sacrifice: one is not given a choice concerning the act that necessitates such a sacrifice, such as omitting obligatory duties. Rather, it is an obligatory offering, as though he were given the choice between purely physical worship