Answered by Shaykh Ilyas Patel
If a person takes a vow, that he will not indulge in such and such a sin, and breaks down and does indulge in it, renews his vow, but breaks down again, doesn’t renew his vow after this, but tries to be careful to the best of his ability, but breaks down every now and then, does he perform one expiation, two expiations, or an expiation for every occurrence of a break down?
Wassalam,
One will have to give a kaffara (expiation) for everyoccurrence of a break down.
It is mentioned in Kitab al-Quduri as follows:
If one swore that he would not do such-and-such, then he must refrain from it forever. But, if one swore that he will surely do such-and-such, and then does it once, he is freed from his oath. (Al-Quduri, Pg 118)
The Kaffara (expiation) for breaking an oath is as follows:
- Freeing a slave
- If one wishes, he may clothe ten poor people, giving each of them one garment or more, the minimum of each being that in which salah is valid, or
- If one wishes, he may feed ten poor, (two meals each) like the feeding in the expiation of zihar.
If one is not capable of any of these three things, one will fast three consecutive days. (Ibid, pg 108)
Ilyas