Repentance and Expiation for a Broken Oath

Answered by Shaykh Faraz A. Khan

Question: If someone committed a particular sin and then placed his hand on the Qur’an vowing never to return to that sin but then unfortunately did return to that sin with immense regret, what will happen to this person? Can they still do tawbah? If so, what is required of this person to attain Allah SWT’s forgiveness.

Answer: Assalamu alaikum wa rahmatullah,

I pray this finds you in the best of health states.

Alhamdulillah, by Allah’s infinite grace, the door of repentance (tawba) is always open while one is alive. Our Beloved Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) said, “Verily Allah accepts the repentance of the servant so long as he has not sounded his death rattle [i.e., so long as he is alive].” [Sunan Tirmidhi]

In general for any sin, repentance entails:

(a) immediately ceasing the sin,
(b) sincere remorse, and
(c) firm resolve to not commit the sin again.

[Nawawi, Riyad al-Salihin]

As for the oath, expiation is due since it was broken. The expiation is to feed ten poor persons (2 meals each), or to clothe them (1 garment each), or to give them the equivalent monetary value. If one is unable to do that, one must fast three consecutive days.

[Maydani, Lubab fi Sharh al-Kitab]
And Allah knows best.
wassalam
Faraz

Checked & Approved by Faraz Rabbani