Chapter: Pardon for Idle Oaths, the Absence of Expiation for Them, and the Definition of What Merely Slips off the Tongue Without Intending an Oath—such as a habitual “No, by Allah.”

Allah the Exalted says: “Allah will not call you to account for what is unintentional in your oaths; yet He will hold you accountable for the oaths you bind with earnest intent. The expiation for such binding oaths is to feed ten needy people from what you ordinarily feed your own families, or to clothe them, or to free a slave. Whoever cannot afford that must fast for three days. That is the expiation for your oaths when you have sworn; and safeguard your oaths.” (Qur’an 5:89)

1719 – ʿĀʾishah (may Allah be pleased with her) reported: “This verse—‘Allah will not call you to account for what is unintentional in your oaths’—was revealed concerning a person’s casual words: ‘No, by Allah,’ or ‘Yes, by Allah.’” Collected by al-Bukhārī.

[Commentary]

The compiler—may Allah have mercy on him—in Riyāḍ al-Ṣāliḥīn entitles this section “Pardon for Idle Oaths.” An idle oath is one that a person utters with his tongue without intending it in his heart. Allah, Exalted be He, has excused this because it frequently occurs that someone says, “No, by Allah, I’m not going,” or “No, by Allah, I will not do it,” and similar expressions. Since such phrases are so common on people’s tongues, Allah