Islamic Fiqh > Oaths and vows > Bar and hanth of the oath
Bar (conforming performance) and hanth (breaking): when each applies according to the oath's content, and the position of coercion.
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Updated on 31 August 2026 at 3:55 AM
Consensus of the scholars: the expiation attaches to the oath about a future act. Ibn Abd al-Barr wrote that the oath carrying the expiation by consensus of the Muslims is the one about the future. If the sworn act is done or omitted deliberately, the expiation is due; forgetting and error follow the deliberate act among Hanafis, Malikis (well-known position), Shafi'is (one view) and Ahmad (one narration). Coercion changes the rule: no breaking for the one who acts under coercion: "Allah has pardoned my community for the mistake, the forgetfulness and what they are forced to do" (Ibn Majah 2043).
Whoever swears to do a good deed must do it: his oath binds him and the expiation does not replace its execution. Ibn Taymiyya states it: whoever swears to do a good deed is bound to do it and cannot expiate instead.
It must not be done:
"Whoever swore an oath and sees better elsewhere, let him do the better and expiate his oath."Muslim 1650
The majority of the scholars deduce: break this oath and pay the expiation. If he nonetheless commits the sin, he is guilty, and no expiation covers the disobedience itself. Shafi'is except the collective obligation: whoever swears not to pray over a deceased while the prayer is not his duty does not sin by this oath and does not have to break it.
Swearing to do a supererogatory act or to leave a disliked one: better to keep one's oath, and breaking requires the expiation (text of Shafi'is and Hanbalis, meaning held by Hanafis and Malikis). Swearing to leave a supererogatory act ("by Allah, I will not pray the nafila, I will not fast voluntarily, I will not visit the sick, I will not attend funerals") or to do a disliked act: the four schools indicate to break it, to do the good and to expiate. Malikis: whoever swears to give up the duha prayer or the visit of a righteous man breaks it preferably. Shafi'is: the oath is disliked, its breaking recommended and the expiation due; they cite the word of Allah revealed about Abu Bakr who had sworn not to support Mistah, then said: "Yes, by my Lord, I do it" (sura an-Nur 22).
No disagreement among the jurists: whoever swears to do a permissible act (enter a house) or to leave one (not wear such a garment) keeps the choice. If he does what he swore to do or leaves what he swore to leave: neither sin nor expiation. If he violates his oath: the expiation is due. Ibn Qudama answers the objection drawn from "and do not break the oaths after their confirmation" (sura an-Nahl 91): this verse targets covenants and pacts, whose execution is binding even without an oath.
Malikis sum up the reading of an oath in four elements: the intention, the triggering cause (bisat), the lexical usage and the purpose intended by the Law. The intention specifies the general and restricts the absolute when the wording allows it: whoever swears "I will not wear wool" and wants the white may wear the black; whoever swears "I will not eat meat" and means a specific meat is believed in fatwa by common agreement. The basis is the hadith:
"A man has only what he intended."al-Bukhari 1
Before swearing, ask whether the commitment is lawful and useful. If something better appears later, the Sunna invites to break, to do the better and to expiate. Coercion cancels the breaking, forgetting and error require the expiation according to the majority, and the oath is read according to the intention of the swearer whenever the wording allows it.