The frivolous oath: the one that does not have a ruling attached to it. There is a difference of opinion regarding it. It was narrated from Aisha, may Allah be pleased with her, that she was asked about it and she said: It is the saying of a man, 'No, by Allah, yes, by Allah.' [Narrated by al-Bukhari and Malik from her narration without the phrase 'she was asked.' Abu Dawood narrated it through the route of Ata from her, both as a raised and stopped narration. Al-Daraqutni authenticated the stopped narration.] This is the view of al-Shafi'i. And from Mujahid: It is the man who swears about something he believes to be so, but it is not as he thought. This is the view of Abu Hanifa, may Allah have mercy on him, regarding what you have tied the oaths with your intention and purpose. It was narrated that al-Hasan, may Allah be pleased with him, was asked about the frivolous oath while al-Farazdaq was with him. He said: O Abu Said, let me answer for you. He said: 'And I am not held accountable for a frivolous saying you utter... if you did not intend the binding oaths.' [Al-Farazdaq narrated that al-Hasan, may Allah be pleased with him, was asked about the frivolous oath. Al-Farazdaq said: Let me answer for you, O Abu Said, and he said the verse, meaning I am not held accountable for the frivolous, that is, the dropped from speech. And 'intended' is originally 'ta'tamid,' with one of the two 'ta's deleted. This is in the meaning of the disconnected exception. And 'the binding oaths' refers to the resolute ones. The attribution of resolution to them is a mental metaphor.]

And it was read: 'You have tied,' with the lightening. And 'you have bound.' The meaning is: But you will be held accountable for what you have tied if you break your oath, so the time of accountability was omitted because it was known to them, or by breaking what you have tied, so the added was omitted. 'So its expiation' is the expiation for its breaking. The expiation: the act that is meant to atone for the sin, that is, to cover it from the average of what you feed, because among them are those who are extravagant in feeding their families, and among them are those who are stingy. According to Abu Hanifa, may Allah have mercy on him, it is half a sa' of wheat or a sa' of something else for each poor person, or you feed them and provide them with dinner. According to al-Shafi'i, may Allah have mercy on him, it is a mud for each poor person. And Ja'far ibn Muhammad read: 'your families,' with the yā' being silent. 'Ahalī' is a collective noun for 'ahl' like 'lilālī' for 'laylah' and 'arāḍī' for 'arḍ.' Their saying 'ahlūn' is like their saying 'arḍūn,' with the rā' being silent. As for the silent yā' in the accusative case, it is for the sake of ease, as they said: 'I saw Ma'di Karb,' likening the yā' to the alif, or 'their clothing' is an addition to the place (of 'from the average'). [The phrase 'to the place of the average' may be said to be suitable for the coming reading or 'or like their clothing,' but the wording of al-Nasafi is an addition to feeding or to the place of the average. Its justification is that 'from the average' is a substitute for 'feeding,' and the substitute is what is intended in the speech.] And it was read with the kāf being pronounced, and similar to it: 'a model in a model,' and 'an example in an example.' The clothing is a garment that covers the private parts. And from Ibn Abbas, may Allah be pleased with him, it was said that the cloak suffices at that time. And from Ibn Umar: a waistcloth or a shirt or a mantle or a garment. And from Mujahid: a comprehensive garment. And from al-Hasan: two white garments. And Sa'id ibn al-Musayyib and al-Yamani read: 'or like their clothing,' meaning: or like what you feed your families, whether it is extravagant or stingy. You do not reduce them from the amount of their sustenance, but you equalize between them and them. If you say: What is the position of the kāf? I say: It is in the nominative case, its estimation being: or their food is like their clothing, meaning:

Like their food, if they do not feed them the middle one or the freeing of a neck, the condition of al-Shafi'i, may Allah have mercy on him, is faith, based on the expiation for killing. As for Abu Hanifa and his companions, they permitted the freeing of a neck as expiation in every expiation except for the expiation for killing. If you say: What is the meaning of 'or'? I say: It is the choice and the obligation of one of the three expiations in general. Whichever one the expiator takes, he has succeeded. So whoever does not find one of them, then fasting three consecutive days is with Abu Hanifa, may Allah have mercy on him, adhering to the reading of Ubayy and Ibn Mas'ud, may Allah be pleased with them: 'Then fasting three consecutive days.' And from Mujahid: Every fasting is consecutive except for the making up of Ramadan. And he is given a choice in the expiation for an oath as mentioned. [Mahran said: 'What is referred to is what was mentioned previously. If it were said... etc.' Ahmad said: 'Rather, in this verse there is a subtle point in indicating the validity of the expiation occurring after the oath and before the violation, which is the well-known view of Malik. The explanation of the inference is that it made what follows the oath a time for the occurrence of the legally considered expiation, as it added 'if' to the mere oath.

And there is no obligation of expiation in the verse so that it can be said: It has been agreed that it is only obligatory upon violation. Thus, its estimation is determined by being added to the oath. Rather, it only stated the legality of the expiation and its occurrence in a considered manner, as its saying: 'That is the expiation for your oaths' does not imply obligation; it only implies validity and consideration, and Allah knows best. This is a victory over those who denied expiation before the violation altogether, even if the oath is upon good, and the three opinions in the school of Malik. However, the supported opinion is the well-known one.] The expiation for your oaths. And if it were said: 'That is the expiation for your oaths,' it would be correct in the sense of those things or for the femininity of the expiation. The meaning is: If you swear and violate. The mention of the violation is omitted because it is known that the expiation is only obligatory upon the violation of the oath, not by the mere swearing, and expiation before the violation is not permissible according to Abu Hanifa and his companions, and it is permissible according to al-Shafi'i with wealth if the violator does not disobey. And 'And keep your oaths' means: Be righteous in them and do not violate. [He returned to his words. He said: 'And keep your oaths, meaning be righteous in them... etc.' Ahmad said: 'And in this interpretation, there is an indication that the one who doubts in the case of the oath after its original certainty is to be made strict and held to the more cautious. So Allah guided him to keep the oath so that his matter does not lead him to be bound in outward appearance in a cautious manner to what has not occurred from him in the knowledge of Allah, the Exalted, like one who swears by divorce and forgets whether he restricted it to three, for example, or left it unrestricted, so he is bound by the three according to the well-known view. And it is possible that in the knowledge of Allah, he only swore by divorce in general, so he was guided to keep it so that forgetfulness does not lead him to this strictness. And the meaning of oaths is everything that is called an oath, whether it is swearing by Allah or by other than Him, which is legally binding, and Allah knows best.] He meant the oaths in which the violation is a sin, because oaths is a generic term that can be applied to part of the genus or to all of it. And it was said: Keep them by expiating them. And it was said: Keep them as you swore by them, and do not forget them out of negligence. Such is the example; thus Allah makes clear to you His signs, the signs of His legislation and His rulings, so that you may be grateful for His blessing in what He teaches you and makes easy for you the way out of it.