[Q 692] Kaffarah for Repeated Broken Oaths

Question

If a person says things such as:

“Wallahi, I will stop swearing.”

“Wallahi, I will never lie again.”

Or makes similar promises regarding different sins, intending that he will never do them again.

However, after making these statements, he ends up committing those sins again. In some cases, he repeats the oath several times, breaks it, then makes the same oath again and breaks it again. This may have happened with around seven or eight different matters.

In such a situation, is there any kaffarah (expiation) required for these broken oaths, or any other ruling that applies?

بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم

الجواب بعون الملك الوهاب اللهم هداية الحق والصواب

Answer

Firstly, remember that the words “واللہ” (Wallah) are words of an oath. This means if someone takes an oath with these words to do or not do something in the future, it will legally (shar’an) become an oath, and breaking it will necessitate a *kaffarah* (expiation). Similarly, however many times an oath was taken, or however many times the words of an oath were spoken – even if it was for the same act – then the oaths will be counted according to the number of times the words of the oath were uttered.

After the aforementioned preamble, the Shar’i ruling for the inquired situation is that if you took an oath multiple times to abstain from sins, or took an oath more than once to abstain from a single act (sin), and then committed that sin, then the oath is broken. And as many times as the oath was taken, that many *kaffarahs* have become binding.

After taking an oath, one should remember it so that the Shar’i ruling can be acted upon accordingly. However, if one forgets the oath after taking it, or forgets the number of oaths, then the Shar’i ruling is that you should make a *zann ghalib* (strong presumption). That is, after thorough consideration and reflection, whatever your heart settles upon regarding the oath and its number – for example, that you took an oath for this specific act so many times – then that number will be considered valid. This means you will have to act accordingly, by giving *kaffarahs* for as many oaths as you have broken. And for the oaths that still remain, if it is legally (shar’an) obligatory to fulfill them – such as taking an oath to abstain from a sin – then it will be obligatory to fulfill it, meaning you must abstain from that sin.

Answered by: Mubashir Madani (AskMufti Scholar)

Verified by: Mufti Sajid Attari

Translated answer

Date: 13th July 2026