Delegating a charity organization to pay kafaarat yameen (expiation for breaking a vow)

I have a question regarding the kaffaarah mentioned in the eighty ninth ayah of sooratul Maa'idah, that the deliberate violation of an oath should be expiated by feeding ten poor persons the average of what you feed your own family, clothe them, free a slave or fast if none of these is possible.  Would sending money through a relief group (Muslims serving Muslims) fulfill feeding the ten poor persons according to the standard that one feeds his own family?  This is assuming that no money was extracted for administrative charges,there is money enough to feed the appropriate number of people, and that the people involved in the distribution of the food are of sound repute.  If this is not acceptable what person would be acceptable as a "poor person"?

Praise be to Allaah. 

If you cannot find any poor person who deserves to receive zakaah in the country where you live, there is nothing wrong with transferring the kafaarah to another country via a trustworthy person or group who can act as the agent of the person who is paying the kafaarah, so that it can reach deserving people of the categories mentioned in the aayah, under the conditions of kafaarah stated. But paying money instead of giving what is stated is not enough. The person who is considered to be poor or needy is the one who does not have enough of the bare necessities.

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He promised Allaah that he would give up the secret habit then he did it again. What does he have to do?

I am writing this question with regret for what I have done and how I have fallen short in my duty towards Allaah. I used to do the secret habit (i.e., masturbation) and now I have given it up a short while ago. May Allaah help me to remain steadfast.
 My question is: I used to say: “I promise you, my Lord, that I will not go back to this evil habit,” but I used to go back and do it again, not to make light of Allaah but because of the Shaytaan and my own whims and desires. 
I hope that you can tell me what I have to do to make up for breaking this promise to Allaah.

Praise be to Allaah.  

We have already explained in the answer to question no. 329 that the secret habit is haraam and how to rid oneself of this habit. The Muslim does not have to make promises and vows in order to give up the things that Allaah has forbidden to him. It is sufficient for him to know that it is haraam and that should be enough to make him give it up. If he makes a promise or a vow to Allaah not to do the haraam thing then he goes and does it again, then he has committed the sin of doing something haraam as well as the sin of breaking a promise or going back on an oath or vow. 

Allaah has enjoined fulfilling promises, as He says (interpretation of the meaning): 

“And fulfil (every) covenant. Verily, the covenant will be questioned about”

[al-Isra’ 17:34] 

al-Jassaas said: 

The words “and fulfil (every) covenant” mean – and Allaah knows best – that it is obligatory to fulfil the promises that one makes to Allaah through vows and promises to do acts of worship. Allaah has obliged us to fulfil them, as He says (interpretation of the meaning): 

“And of them are some who made a covenant with Allaah (saying): ‘If He bestowed on us of His Bounty, we will verily, give Sadaqah (Zakaah and voluntary charity in Allaah’s Cause) and will be certainly among those who are righteous.’

76. Then when He gave them of His Bounty, they became niggardly [refused to pay the Sadaqah (Zakaah or voluntary charity)], and turned away, averse.

77. So He punished them by putting hypocrisy into their hearts”

[al-Tawbah 9:75-77] 

Ahkaam al-Qur’aan, 3/299 

Al-Sarkhasi said: 

Fulfilling promises is obligatory. Allaah says (interpretation of the meaning): 

“And fulfil the Covenant of Allaah (Bay‘ah: pledge for Islam) when you have covenanted”

[al-Nahl 16:91] 

And He condemns those who do not do fulfil their promises by saying (interpretation of the meaning): 

“And of them are some who made a covenant with Allaah…” [al-Tawbah 9:75]. 

Al-Mabsoot, 3/94 

Whoever makes a promise to Allaah to do something and does not do it, or makes a promise not to do something and does it, then he has committed the sin of breaking that promise, and he has to offer expiation for breaking an oath (kafaarat yameen), because a promise is a kind of oath or vow, and the one who breaks an oath or vow has to offer kafaarat yameen. He is given the choice of freeing a slave, or feeding ten poor persons, or clothing them. Whoever cannot do any of these things has to fast for three days. 

Ibn Qudaamah said: 

If a person says: I solemnly promise to Allaah that I will do such and such, then this is an oath in which the intention was to swear an oath to Allaah. 

Al-Mughni, 9/400. 

Shaykh al-Islam Ibn Taymiyah said: 

Promises and vows are verily similar. If a person says: I promise Allaah that I will do Hajj this year, then this is a vow and a promise and an oath. If he says, I will not speak to Zayd, this is an oath and a promise but not a vow. But an oath is a vow when a person promises to an act or worship or an action by means of which he may draw closer to Allaah.   

Al-Fataawa al-Kubra, 5/553. 

This is also the view of Ibn ‘Abbaas, Maalik, ‘Ata’, al-Zuhri, al-Nakha’i, al-Shu’bi and Yahya ibn Sa’eed, as it says in al-Mudawwanah, 1/579, 580. 

In conclusion: You have to offer kafaarat yameen for breaking your promise to Allaah. We ask Allaah to bless you with guidance, piety, chastity and independence of means. 

And Allaah knows best.

He said to his wife: “You are to me like my mother”

A woman’s husband said to her: “You are to me like my mother.” Is this regarded as a talaaq divorce or is there expiation for it? What is the expiation?.

Praise be to Allaah.

Firstly: 

This phrase is not regarded as a talaaq divorce, rather it is a kind of zihaar [a jaahili form of divorce in which the husband says to his wife, “You are to me as my mother’s back”] which is not explicitly zihaar, rather it may be understood as zihaar or as something else. 

Secondly: 

The ruling on this phrase depends on the intention of the speaker (the husband) and the context. 

As for the intention, if the husband intended by saying that that she was forbidden to him like his mother, then it is zihaar. 

Or he may have meant that she is like his mother in honour and love etc, in which case it is not zihaar, and does not mean anything.  

As for context, if the context of words and events that came before this indicate that the husband intended zihaar, then it is zihaar. Examples of such contexts are: if the husband was having an argument with his wife and during that argument he said, “You are to me like my mother.” This context suggests that he intended zihaar so it is zihaar, 

Shaykh al-Islam Ibn Taymiyah was asked in Majmoo’ al-Fataawa (34/5) about a man who said to his wife: “You are to me like my mother or my sister.” He replied: If what he meant was you are to me like my mother or my sister in terms of honour, then he does not have to do anything, but if what he meant was likening her to his mother or sister in terms of marriage, then this is zihaar and he has to do the same as the one who divorces his wife by zihaar: if he chooses to keep her, he should not approach her until he has offered the expiation for zihaar.  End quote. 

He also said (34/7): 

If he meant when he said, “you are like my mother to me” that he would refrain from physical relations with her which are forbidden in the case of the mother, then this is zihaar and he is obliged to do what the man who divorces his wife by zihaar is obliged to do. It is not permissible for him to have intercourse with her until he has offered the expiation for zihaar, namely freeing a slave. If that is not possible then he must fast for two consecutive months. If he cannot do that then he must feed sixty poor persons. End quote. 

Ibn Qudaamah said in al-Mughni (11/60): 

If he says: You are to me like my mother, intending zihaar thereby, then it is zihaar, according to the majority of scholars, including Abu Haneefah and his two companions, al-Shaafa’i and Ishaaq. If he intended thereby to show honour and respect, or to say that she is like her in age or in some other way, then this is not zihaar. What matters is what he says about his intention. End quote. 

i.e., the husband is the one who has to clarify what he intended. 

It says in Fataawa al-Lajnah al-Daa’imah (20/274): 

If the husband says to his wife: I am your brother or You are my sister or You are my mother or like my mother, or You are to me like my mother or my sister, if he means thereby that she is like them in honour, family ties or respect, or he did not have any particular intention, or there is no context to suggest that he intended zihaar, then this does not result in zihaar and he does not have to do anything. But if he intended zihaar with these or similar words, or there is a context that indicates zihaar, such as these words being uttered in anger or as a threat to her, then it is zihaar. This is haraam and he must repent, and also offer expiation before he touches her. The expiation is to free a slave; if that is not possible then he must fast for two consecutive months. If he cannot do that then he must feed sixty poor persons. End quote. 

To sum up: 

If the husband intended zihaar by these words, or if there is a context that points to that, then it is zihaar. If it is other than that, then it is not zihaar and he does not have to do anything. 

Thirdly: 

Zihaar is haraam, and Allaah has described it as an ill word and a lie, and He says (interpretation of the meaning): 

“Those among you who make their wives unlawful to them by Zihaar (i.e., by saying to them “You are like my mother’s back,”) they cannot be their mothers. None can be their mothers except those who gave them birth. And verily, they utter an ill word and a lie”

[al-Mujaadilah 58:2] 

The one who speaks the words of zihaar to his wife has to repent to Allaah, may He be exalted.

Fourthly: 

The husband who divorces his wife by zihaar has to offer expiation if he wants to keep her and not divorce her and it is not permissible for him to have intercourse with her until he has offered expiation. The expiation is to free a slave. If that is not possible then he must fast for two consecutive months. If he cannot do that then he must feed sixty poor persons. The evidence for that is the verse in which Allaah says (interpretation of the meaning): 

“And those who make unlawful to them (their wives) by Zihaar and wish to free themselves from what they uttered, (the penalty) in that case is the freeing of a slave before they touch each other. That is an admonition to you (so that you may not repeat such an ill thing). And Allaah is All‑Aware of what you do.

4. And he who finds not (the money for freeing a slave) must fast two successive months before they both touch each other. And he who is unable to do so, should feed sixty Masaakeen (poor). That is in order that you may have perfect faith in Allaah and His Messenger. These are the limits set by Allaah. And for disbelievers, there is a painful torment”

[al-Mujaadilah 58:3-4].

He vowed to marry a certain girl then he did not fulfil his vow

I vowed to Allaah that I would not marry any girl except this girl, and that if I married anyone else I would fast for three months. Then I found that I could not fulfil my vow, and I do not have any work so that I could feed the poor every day. What is the solution? May Allaah reward you with good.

Praise be to Allaah.

Firstly: 

What the Muslim should do is avoid making vows, because the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) told us not to do that. 

Al-Bukhaari (6608) and Muslim (1639) narrated that Ibn ‘Umar (may Allaah be pleased with him) said: The Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) told us not to make vows and said: “They do not change anything, rather they are a means of making the miser give something.” 

See also question no. 32724 and 36800. 

Secondly: 

The scholars (may Allaah have mercy on them) stated that vows are of several types, such as a vow that is intended as an oath, which is aimed at encouraging an action or avoiding it. 

The ruling on such vows if they are broken is that the person is given the choice between doing that action he vowed to do or offering kafaarat yameen (expiation for breaking an oath). 

Ibn Qudaamah said in al-Mughni (13/461): 

If a person makes a vow in the sense of making an oath, to stop himself or someone else doing something, or to make him do something – such as saying, “If I speak to Zayd, then I must go on Hajj, or give my wealth in charity, or fast for a year,” then this is an oath, and the ruling thereon is that he has the choice between fulfilling what he swore to do, in which case he does not have to do anything else, or breaking his oath, in which case he has the choice of doing what he vowed to do or offering kafaarat yameen. This is called the vow of argument and anger, and he does not have to fulfil it… This is the view of ‘Umar, Ibn ‘Abbaas, Ibn ‘Umar, ‘Aa’ishah, Hafsah, and Zaynab bint Abi Salamah. This is also the view of al-Shaafa’i. End quote. 

It seems that your vow to fast for three months if you did not marry this girl is of this type, because by doing that you intended to encourage yourself to marry her. This is an oath. 

See also question no. 45889. 

Kafaarat yameen (expiation for breaking an oath) is mentioned in the verse where Allaah says (interpretation of the meaning): 

“Allaah will not punish you for what is unintentional in your oaths, but He will punish you for your deliberate oaths; for its expiation (a deliberate oath) feed ten Masaakeen (poor persons), on a scale of the average of that with which you feed your own families, or clothe them or manumit a slave. But whosoever cannot afford (that), then he should fast for three days. That is the expiation for the oaths when you have sworn. And protect your oaths (i.e. do not swear much). Thus Allaah makes clear to you His Ayaat (proofs, evidences, verses, lessons, signs, revelations, etc.) that you may be grateful”
[al-Maa’idah 5:89] 

See also question no. 45676. 

To sum up: if you marry that girl, then you do not have to do anything. If you do not marry her, then you have the choice between fulfilling your vow of fasting for three months, or offering kafaarat yameen. 

And Allaah knows best.

Is it permissible to swear a false oath in order to reconcile between two disputing parties?

Is it permissible to swear a false oath in order to reconcile between two disputing parties?.

Praise be to Allaah.

The basic principle for the Muslim is to be honest and truthful, and he should not speak anything but the truth, because Allaah says (interpretation of the meaning): 

“O you who believe! Fear Allaah, and be with those who are true (in words and deeds)”

[al-Tawbah 9:119] 

And the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said: “I urge you to be truthful, for “Truthfulness leads to righteousness and righteousness leads to Paradise. A man will keep speaking the truth and striving to speak the truth until he will be recorded with Allaah as a siddeeq (speaker of the truth). Lying leads to immorality and immorality leads to Hellfire. A man will keep telling lies and striving to tell lies until he is recorded with Allaah as a liar.” Narrated by al-Bukhaari, 5743; Muslim, 2607, from the hadeeth of ‘Abd-Allaah ibn Mas’ood (may Allaah be pleased with him). 

Reconciling between people is an important issue in Islam, one which brings a great deal of reward. There is also a stern warning against sewing discord between people. Because of the importance of reconciling people in the Muslim society and the seriousness of discord and conflict, Allaah has permitted lying in order to reconcile between people and to remove discord and conflict which may have negative consequences for the religious commitment of individuals and communities. 

It was narrated from Abu’l-Darda’ (may Allaah be pleased with him) that the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said: “Shall I not tell you of something that is better than fasting, prayer and charity?” They said: Yes. He said: “Reconciling between two people, for discord between people is the shaver.” Narrated by al-Tirmidhi, who said: this is a hasan hadeeth. And it is narrated that the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said: “It is the shaver, and I do not say that it shaves hair, rather that it shaves religious commitment.” End quote. 

Whomsoever Allaah honours and enables him to reconcile between Muslims, if he needs to tell lies in order to reconcile between them, there is no sin on him for that, and it is not permissible to describe him as a liar, because the matter is serious; it is the matter of shar’i interests which means that in this case, lying is permissible, as it is narrated in al-Saheehayn from the hadeeth of Umm Kalthoom bint ‘Uqbah (may Allaah be pleased with her) that she heard the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) say: “He is not a liar who reconciles between people, conveying good messages and saying good things.” Narrated by al-Bukhaari, 2546; Muslim, 2605 

As for swearing false oaths in order to reconcile between people, it seems that this is permissible. 

Shaykh ‘Abd al-‘Azeez ibn Baaz (may Allaah have mercy on him) said: 

What is prescribed for the believers is to use oaths sparingly, even if they are true, because swearing oaths a great deal may cause him to end up lying, and it is known that lying is haraam, and if a lie is accompanied by an oath, it is even more haraam. But if necessity or shar’i interests dictate that a false oath be sworn, there is no sin in that, because it is proven in the hadeeth of Umm Kalthoom bint ‘Uqbah ibn Abi Mu’eet (may Allaah be pleased with her) that the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said: “He is not a liar who reconciles between people, conveying good messages and saying good things.” She said: I did not hear him grant any concession concerning anything that the people say of lies except in three cases: reconciling between people, war, and what a man says to his wife, or a woman says to her husband. Narrate by Muslim in al-Saheeh. 

If a person says in order to reconcile between people, “By Allaah, your companions want to reconcile, they want to come to an agreement, they want such and such,” then he goes to the others and says something similar, with good intentions and aiming to bring about a reconciliation, there is no sin in that, because of the hadeeth quoted above. 

Similarly, if he sees someone who wants to kill another person unlawfully, or to wrong him in some other way, and he says, “By Allaah he is my brother,” in order to rid him of this wrongdoer who wants to kill him unlawfully or beat him unlawfully, because he knows that if he says that he is his brother, he will leave him alone out of respect for him, then he has to say such a thing in the interests of saving his brother from injustice and wrongdoing. 

To conclude: the basic principle concerning false oaths is that they are haraam, except in cases where they will serve a greater purpose than lying, as in the three cases mentioned in the hadeeth quoted above. 

End quote. 

Majmoo’ Fataawa al-Shaykh Ibn Baaz, 1/54.

He vowed to break the fast in Ramadaan

What is the ruling if a man vows to break the fast during the day in Ramadaan?.

Praise be to Allaah.

Firstly: fasting Ramadaan is obligatory for adult, sane Muslims who are able to fast. If a person meets those criteria, it is haraam for him to break the fast with no excuse. It is also haraam for him to swear to do that, because by swearing such an oath he is resolving to do something haraam. 

Secondly: 

If a Muslim swears to commit a sin, it is not permissible for him to do what he swore to do, rather he must break his vow and offer expiation for breaking an oath (kafaarat yameen), because the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said: “Whoever vows to do something then sees that something else is better than it, let him do what is better and offer expiation for his vow.” Narrated by Muslim, 1650. 

Kafaarat yameen (expiation for breaking an oath) means feeding ten poor persons, or clothing them, or freeing a slave. If a person cannot do any of these things, then he must fast for three days, because Allaah says (interpretation of the meaning): 

“Allaah will not punish you for what is unintentional in your oaths, but He will punish you for your deliberate oaths; for its expiation (a deliberate oath) feed ten Masaakeen (poor persons), on a scale of the average of that with which you feed your own families, or clothe them or manumit a slave. But whosoever cannot afford (that), then he should fast for three days. That is the expiation for the oaths when you have sworn. And protect your oaths (i.e. do not swear much). Thus Allaah makes clear to you His Ayaat (proofs, evidences, verses, lessons, signs, revelations, etc.) that you may be grateful”

[al-Maa’idah 5:89] 

See also question no. 45676

 

Thirdly: 

The one who has done that must repent to Allaah, for it is very repugnant for a Muslim to swear to break the fast in Ramadaan. This indicates that he is careless about the sacred limits set by Allaah, and that he takes them lightly. In the answer to question no. 38747 we stated that it is very dangerous to break the fast in Ramadaan with no excuse, and that the one who does that is regarded as a hypocrite, Allaah forbid. 

Al-Dhahabi said in al-Kabaa’ir (p. 64): 

Among the believers it is well established that the one who fails to fast in Ramadaan although he is not sick and he has no excuse that would permit that, is worse than an adulterer or one who is addicted to alcohol; indeed they would have doubts about his Islam and would think that he is a heretic and a deviant. End quote. 

We ask Allaah to keep us safe and sound and to make us steadfast in adhering to His religion. 

And Allaah knows best.

Was our breaking the fast wrong and do we have to make up the 30th day of Ramadan?

Do we have to make up the 30th day of last Ramadan or offer expiation? I heard that our breaking the fast was wrong and that Ramadan in 1428 AH was 30 days and not 29 days.

Praise be to Allaah.

You do not have to make up the 30th day, because Ramadan was 29 days, based on the fact that the shar’i moon sighting was confirmed and nearly 10 people testified to that, as was mentioned by Shaykh Saalih ibn Muhammad al-Lahaydaan, the head of the Higher Judiciary Council (may Allah preserve him). 

If anyone was outside the Kingdom and relied on its moon sighting, then his breaking of the fast is valid and he does not have to do anything further. 

And Allah knows best.