Before I ask my question I need to explain a little bit of the situation: I have a friend, whom I made him swear on god to never do a certain thing. For example I made him swear to never go to Kuwait, this is of course not the case but I’m just using it as an example due to the complication of the real situation. Anyways, this friend did not do it out of his own will but purely out of respect for me and I even made him repeat after me word by word on what would sound like a satisfactory swear to me. Now my question is, since the swearing was done upon a request from me for my own peace of mind at the time which I no longer require, does the vow still stand given the reason behind it no longer exist? In the case of my example, say it no longers bothers me wethear he visits Kuwait someday or not, which was the core purpose for his swearing, does that mean he still can’t go to Kuwait ’cause he has previously sweared for my sake? Basically, does the purpose of the swear effect it’s validity? By the way, he hasn’t broken the swear as of yet and he does not plan on it. But if the swear still stands no matter what, is there anything that can be done to deactivate it in a permissible fashion just incase he does not stand by it forever? I am aware one needs to perform “kafara” once they break a swear but what about those that have not yet broken it? Plus, would that have a negative effect on him given that he went back on a swear like that?
Using your example if you stipulated a time or a specific reason for not
going to Kuwait and this time or reason has elapsed then this oath may no
longer stand. However, if no time limit was stipulated or the reason for
the oath still stands, the person is not allowed to break the oath. If he
does break the oath then your friend needs to feed or clothe 10 poor people
or free a slave. The amount of food is 1 kilo of the country’s staple food
e.g. Dates, wheat, rice etc. or clothes that will be sufficient for salaah
(i.e. to cover one aurah).
Refer to surah-al-Maidah. Ayah 59
and Allah Ta’ala Knows Best
Mufti Ebrahim Desai
FATWA DEPT.