Paying the Expiation for an Oath in Money إخراج كفارة اليمين مالًا

Questioner: And another question: the expiation for an oath — what if a person pays it out of his money?

[This was asked together with a question about Ibn al-Mulaqqin's al-Badr al-Munir; see Ibn al-Mulaqqin's al-Badr al-Munir, and the 'An'anah of Narrators Described With Tadlis.]

As for the expiation for an oath — may he pay it in money? Allah, Majestic and Exalted, says: "Its expiation is the feeding of ten needy people from the average of that which you feed your families" [al-Ma'idah: 89]. What is apparent from this verse is that this is a command, and that he pays it as food and does not pay it as money. This is the madhhab of the majority of scholars, such as Malik, al-Shafi'i, and Ahmad ibn Hanbal.

A group of the jurists and the people of opinion (ahl al-ra'y) held that money suffices, so he pays the value of feeding ten needy people.

Practice is upon the first view, and it is stronger in evidence; this is what the Companions (may Allah be pleased with them) used to do. Whoever paid money based on ijtihad, on an interpretation, or after asking for a fatwa has discharged his obligation. But whoever paid money without asking and without seeking a fatwa — only out of ignorance, without knowledge — must repeat the expiation.

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