is better; then do what is better and make expiation for your oath.

Just as this is his command, it is also his sound practice, as the second hadith makes clear: the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) swore that he never gives an oath and then sees something else to be better without pursuing what is better and freeing himself from the oath by an expiation.

Lessons derived from the two hadiths

1. It is disliked to seek governorship—that is, any form of public office or position of authority—and to be eager for it. The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said, “Whoever pursues the judgeship and asks for it will be left to himself, but whoever is compelled to accept it, Allah will send an angel to guide him.” Seeking office exposes a person to a task whose rights he may not fulfill, thus placing himself in danger. It usually involves vanity and self-admiration, for he seeks it trusting in his own power while forgetting Allah’s help and success. It is often driven by ill intent: he would not compete for it while someone else is more qualified unless he is after wealth, prestige, or some other base motive.
2. Whoever is given authority without having asked for it will be helped in carrying it, because he recognizes his own shortcomings and fears failure. He therefore turns to Allah, whereupon divine assistance and guidance reach him. He will work diligently and sincerely, becoming a cause of his own success and proper performance.
3. The link between this part of the hadith and what follows may be, as al-Zarkashi explained, that refusing an office could lead a person to swear an oath, whereas the benefit may lie in accepting it.
4. Whoever swears not to do something—or to do it—then realizes that the good lies in the opposite, whether in acting or refraining, should adopt what is better and expiate his oath. The ruling varies with the matter sworn upon: breaking the oath may be obligatory, recommended, forbidden, or merely permissible. In such cases he may choose either to keep his oath or to break it with expiation.
5. According to the majority of scholars, the expiation is a concession that Allah has legislated to dissolve what an oath has bound; therefore it is valid whether paid before or after breaking the oath. ʿIyāḍ reported that fourteen Companions held that the expiation should precede the breaking of the oath, and this view—expiating before the act—was adopted by Rabīʿah, al-Awzāʿī, al-Layth, Mālik, Aḥmad, and all the jurists of the major centers except the scholars of opinion.