Expiation of Breaking the Oath (Kafarat ul-Yameen)

প্রশ্ন · Question

Assalam Alaikum Wa Rahmatullah Wa Barakatuh
Our honorable Sheikh,
Can the expiation for breaking an oath (kafarat ul yameen) be given for
a young infant child who does not eat food and who only drinks breast
milk or infant formula? If the expiation is given and the person forgets

about this situation (it is given to an infant), should the person repeat
giving the kafara to a poor person?
And another question related to the expiation for breaking an oath: Is
it sufficient to feed the poor once, or is it necessary to feed him twice
(lunch and dinner?)
And the third question: a person who lives in Europe and gave
expiation for the oath to the poor in Ukraine by following the amount
of expiation for the oath in Ukraine. Was it necessary for him to follow
the amount of expiation in Europe, or was it sufficient to follow the
amount in the country to which it was sent to?

উত্তর · Answer

Wa Alaikum Assalam Wa Rahmatullah Wa Barakatuh
1- The basic principle regarding expiation for an oath (kafarat ul
yameen) is the words of the Allah ﷻ:
[يْمَانِكُمْ وَلَكِنْ يُؤَاخِذُكُمْ بِمَا عَقَّدْتُمُ الَْْيْمَانَ فَكَفَّارَتُهُ إِ
َ
لََ يُؤَاخِذُكُمُ اللهُ بِاللهغْوِ ف ِي أ طْعَامُ
وْ تَحْرِيرُ رَقَبَةٍ فَمَنْ لَمْ يَجِدْ
َ
وْ كِسْوَتُهُمْ أ
َ
هْلِيكُمْ أ
َ
وْسَطِ مَا تُطْعِمُونَ أ
َ
عَشََِّةِ مَسَاكِيْ َ مِنْ أ
يْمَانَكُمْ كَذَلِكَ يُبَيْر ُ اللهُ
َ
يْمَانِكُمْ إِذَا حَلَفْتُمْ وَاحْفَظُوا أ
َ
يَّامٍ ذَلِكَ كَفَّارَةُ أ
َ
فَصِيَامُ ثَلََثَةِ أ لَكُمْ
آيَاتِهِ لَعَلهكُمْ تَشْكُرُونَ ]
“Allah will not impose blame upon you for what is meaningless in
your oaths, but He will impose blame upon you for [breaking] what
you intended of oaths. So its expiation is the feeding of ten needy
people from the average of that which you feed your [own] families
or clothing them or the freeing of a slave. But whoever cannot find
[or afford it] - then a fast of three days [is required]. That is the
expiation for oaths when you have sworn. But guard your oaths.3
Thus does Allah make clear to you His verses [i.e., revealed law] that
you may be grateful” [Al-Ma’idah: 89]. Feeding ten poor people is one
of the options mentioned in the verse:

هْلِيكُمْ
َ
وْسَطِ مَا تُطْعِمُونَ أ
َ
[ “So its expiation2 is
the feeding of ten needy people from the average of that which you
feed your [own] families” [Al-Ma’idah: 89].
2- It is understood from the noble verse that the number ten is
binding, i.e., ten needy persons must be fed, so it is not correct to feed
one poor person ten times, for example. We explained previously this
in the Answer to a Question on 29/4/2022 CE, in which the following
was stated:
[and the opinion that I see more correct is that if the text is mentioned
with a certain number of poor people, such as
[وْ كِسْوَتُهُمْ
َ
هْلِيكُمْ أ
َ
وْسَطِ مَا تُطْعِمُونَ أ
َ
فَكَفَّارَتُهُ إِطْعَامُ عَشََِّةِ مَسَاكِيْ َ مِنْ أ ] “So its
expiation is the feeding of ten needy people from the average of that
which you feed your [own] families or clothing them” [Al-Ma’ida: 89]
[فَمَنْ لَمْ يَسْتَطِعْ فَإِطْعَامُ سِتريْ َ مِسْكِيناً ] “...and he who is unable - then the
feeding of sixty poor persons.” [Al-Mujadila: 4]. In this case, the
aforementioned number (ten, sixty) must be adhered to, whether the
giving is in kind or in value, because the number is intended, it is a
necessary restriction, but if the text requires giving poor people
without mentioning a number, it is permissible to give one poor person
because there is no restriction on the number, and it may be given to
more than one poor person, as Allah ﷻ says regarding zakat:
[إِنَّمَا الصَّدَقَاتُ لِلْفُقَرَاءِ وَالْمَسَاكِيْ ِ وَالْعَامِلِيْ َ عَلَيْهَا وَالْمُؤَلهفَةِ قُلُوب ُهُمْ وَف ِي الررقَابِ
وَالْغَارِمِيْ َ وَف ِي سَبِيلِ اللَّهِ وَابْنِ السَّبِيلِ فَرِيضَةً مِنَ اللَّهِ وَاللَّهُ عَلِيمٌ حَكِيمٌ ]
“Zakah expenditures are only for the poor and for the needy and for
those employed to collect [zakah] and for bringing hearts together
[for Islam] and for freeing captives [or slaves] and for those in debt
and for the cause of Allah and for the [stranded] traveler - an
obligation [imposed] by Allah. And Allah is Knowing and Wise” [At-
Tawba: 60]. So it is permissible for the one who pays Zakat to give his
zakat to one poor person, and it is permissible to divide it among many

poor people, because there is no specific number in the verse, rather
the term “poor people” is mentioned like this without a number... But
he takes into account that they are eligible to zakat because they are
described as poor.]
3- Accordingly, the completion of the expiation requires feeding ten
poor persons with the average food, and this means that the poor
person who is given the expiation is the one who can eat the average
food. As for the breastfed child, I do not think that he is included in this
concept, and therefore he is not counted among the poor who are fed
in the expiation for an oath. If a man got up and sent food to a poor
family consisting of ten members, including a baby, then this expiation
is incomplete; it is l ike feeding nine and not ten, because the baby
does not come under the concept of those who are being fed. This is
what I see most correct and is what I am content with. Therefore, he
must complete it by feeding another poor person in addition to those
he fed to complete the expiation of ten poor people. This is in contrast
to the child who eats food, such as a boy with distinguishing mind and
the like, for these are counted in the expiation. If there were children
in the poor family like these, then the ex piation is valid by feeding
them, because they enter into the concept of those who are fed.
4- The jurists differed in determining the amount of food for each poor
person in expiation for breaking an oath (kafarat ul yameen), and in
the type of the food from which the expiation is given etc., and I quote
something about this from the Kuwaiti Encyclopedia of Fiqh
[“Second: In terms of the amount”
- The Malikis, Shafi’is, and Hanbalis are of the view that it is a condition
that each poor person be given one mudd (a measure of weight) from
most of the country’s staple food, and it is not permissible to give the
value of the food in accordance with the text of the verse:

[فَكَفَّارَتُهُ إِطْعَامُ عَشََِّةِ مَسَاكِيْ َ ] “So its expiation is the feeding of ten needy
people” [Al-Ma’idah: 89]. It is a condition that the shares should not be
reduced, so it is not permissible to give twenty poor people ten mudd;
to each one of them half a mudd unless he completes for ten of them
what was lacking. It is also required that the feeding be for the ten, so
the fabrication is not valid, so if he fed five and clothed five, it is not
permitted. It is also required that a mudd be given to each of the ten
on the basis of ownership, and it is not permitted according to the
Malikis to repeat giving to one. The Hanafis hold the view that it is a
condition that each poor should be given half a saa’ (measure of
weight) of wheat, or a saa’ of dates or barley, or the value of that in
money or trade offers, because the purpose is to pay the need, and
that can be achieved by the value.
As for the amount of permissible food for them: two meals that are
satiating, that is, it is required that each poor person has lunch and
dinner, and likewise if he gives them dinner and suhur, or he gives
them two lunches and so on, because they are two intended meals.
But if he gives one person lunch and another one dinner, that is not
valid, because he would have divided the food of the ten over twenty,
which is not valid.
They also stipulate that he does not give the entire expiation to one
poor person in one day at once or separately over ten times. But if he
fed one poor person for ten days, lunch and dinner, or gave one poor
person for ten days every day half a saa’, that is permissible because
the need is renewed every day making him like another poor person,
as if he spent the value on ten poor people.
“Third: In terms of type”
- The Hanafis held the opinion that what is sufficient in feeding is
wheat, or barley, or dates, the flour of each one as its original by
measure, that is, half a saa’ in wheat flour and a saa’ in barley flour,

and it was said: What is considered in the flour is the value, not the
measure, and it is permissible to extract the value from other than
these types. The Malikis went to the fact that feeding is from wheat if
they ate it, so it is not acceptable from any other of barley or corn or
other than that. If they ate other than wheat, then what equals it in
satiety, not measure (is given). The Shafi’is held the opinion that
feeding is from the grains and fruits on which zakat is due, because the
bodies are establ ished by it, and it is required that it be from the
majority of the country’s food. The Hanbalis went to stipulate that the
feeding should be from wheat, barley and their flour, dates and raisins,
and nothing else is permitted, even if it was the food of his country,
unless those foods are not available.] End
5- What I see most correct regarding feeding for the ten poor is that
they are given two meals to be true to the meaning of the verse:
[هْلِيكُمْ
َ
وْسَطِ مَا تُطْعِمُونَ أ
َ
فَكَفَّارَتُهُ إِطْعَامُ عَشََِّةِ مَسَاكِيْ َ مِنْ أ ]
“So its expiation is the feeding of ten needy people from the average
of that which you feed your [own] families” [Al-Ma’idah: 89]. Feeding
the family is twice a day, so that it can be called feeding, such as lunch
and dinner; otherwise, he has not completed feeding his family, and
similarly with regard to the poor in the expiation, he must feed them
twice a day until the expiation is complete, so if he suffices with lunch
without dinner, or with dinner without lunch it is not acceptable, and
also, the Shariah has made the food in Ramadan two meals: the pre -
dawn meal and the iftar meal, so complete feeding is with the m or the
same.
6- As for your question: (a person who lives in Europe and gave
expiation for the oath to the poor in Ukraine by following the amount
of expiation for the oath in Ukraine. Was it necessary for him to follow
the amount of expiation in Europe, or was it sufficient to follow the
amount in the country to which it was sent to?) the answer to that and
what I am confident about is that the amount spent is according to the

average food in the country in which the person who is given the
expiation resides, and that is because the noble verse says:
[هْلِيكُمْ
َ
وْسَطِ مَا تُطْعِمُونَ أ
َ
فَكَفَّارَتُهُ إِطْعَامُ عَشََِّةِ مَسَاكِيْ َ مِنْ أ ]
“So its expiation is the feeding of ten needy people from the average
of that which you feed your [own] families” [Al-Ma’idah: 89]. This
makes him feel that feeding is according to the place in which the
person is in, because what is required is to feed ten poor people from
the average of what he feeds his family. If he fed, for example, in
Ukraine with ten dollars, then this may be sufficient to feed ten poor
people there, but it is not sufficient to feed ten poor people according
to the situation in Europe. For example, he has to feed for one
hundred dollars so that he would have fed from the average of what
he feed s his family. Therefore, I think that it is better and more
prudent to give the amount of feeding ten poor people in the country
in which he resides.
This is what I see most correct, and Allah Knows Best, He is Most Wise.
Your Brother,
Abu Yasin