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lā yuʾākhidhukumu llāhu bi-l-laghwi fī ʾaymānikum wa-lākin yuʾākhidhukum bi-mā ʿaqqadtumu l-ʾaymāna fa-kaffāratuhū ʾiṭʿāmu ʿasharati masākīna min ʾawsaṭi mā tuṭʿimūna ʾahlīkum ʾaw kiswatuhum ʾaw taḥrīru raqabatin fa-man lam yajid fa-ṣiyāmu thalāthati ʾayyāmin dhālika kaffāratu ʾaymānikum ʾidhā ḥalaftum wa-ḥfaẓū ʾaymānakum ka-dhālika yubayyinu llāhu lakum ʾāyātihī laʿallakum tashkurūna
Allah shall not take you to task for what is frivolous in your oaths; but He shall take you to task for what you pledge in earnest. The atonement for it is to feed ten needy persons with the average food you give to your families, or their clothing, or the freeing of a slave. He who cannot afford [any of these] shall fast for three days. That is the atonement for your oaths when you vow. But keep your oaths. Thus does Allah clarify His signs for you so that you may give thanks.
— Ali Quli Qarai
Surah Al-Ma’idah, Verse 89
89. "Allah does not call you to account for your vain (unintentional) oaths, but he calls you to account for what you have pledged solemnly. So its atonement is feeding ten paupers with the average of what you feed your own families, or clothing them, or freeing a slave. But whoever does not find (the means to do so), should fast for three days. That is the atonement of your oaths when you pledge. But guard your oaths. Thus Allah makes His Signs clear for you in order that you might be thankful."
The Atonement of Oaths
In this verse, the general discussion is about the oaths which are taken upon the fields of making the lawful things into unlawful ones, and the like of them. These oaths, from this point of view, are divided into two sorts. At first, it says:
The objective meaning of 'vain oaths', as the commentators and jurisprudents have said, is the oaths that do not aim a definite goal and those that have not been taken intentionally and decidedly. Besides, the contents of such oaths are against the laws of religion, viz. they are estimated as opposite to the commands of Allah. The second sort is the oaths which are taken willfully, intentionally, decidedly, and earnestly. Referring to these kinds of oaths, in the continuation of the verse, the Qur'an says:
And Allah charges you with a duty to fulfill these oaths. For the validity of an oath, of course, only its being earnest is not enough, but the content of the oath should be a lawful matter, at least. It should also be noted that an oath is not reputable except by the Name of Allah. Therefore, if someone takes an oath by Allah, it is obligatory to perform it according to his oath. So, if he breaches his pledge, one of the following three atonements is necessary to be performed by the one. At first, it says:
Yet, in order that some people do not take this general ordinance so that they think they can give any low and worthless material of food as atonement, the Qur'an clearly explains the quality of this food, saying that it must be:
The second is: to cloth ten needy persons with proper clothing.
The appearance of this verse, of course, indicates that the clothing should be of a sort which normally covers the body. Yet it can be of various kinds according to the seasons and places in different periods. To answer to the question that whether, from the point of quality, the minimum material is enough or the average should be observed here, too, as the absoluteness of the verse implies, any sort of clothing can be enough. The third is:
Sometimes it happens that there may be some persons who are able to fulfill neither of the above two atonements. Therefore, next to stating these ordinances, it says:
After that, as an emphasis, the Qur'an says:
But, in order that no one might consider that by giving atonement, breaching the proper oaths is not unlawful, it says:
The purpose or this phrase is that you should be careful not to commit sins by breaching your oaths. And, finally, at the end of the verse, in order that you might be grateful for these ordinances and commandments, which guarantee the happiness and felicity of both an individual and society, the Qur'an says: