God will not take you to task for a slip, contained, in your oaths, which is what the tongue utters spontaneously, without intending to swear an oath, such as when one says, ‘No, by God’, or ‘Yes, by God’; but He will take you to task for that to which you have pledged (read ‘aqadtum, ‘aqqadttum or ‘āqadttum) oaths, where you have sworn an oath intentionally; the expiation thereof, of the oath if you break it, is the feeding of ten of the needy, for each needy person one mudd measure, of the midmost food, from which, you feed your families, that is, the closest or the principal [food you consume], neither better, nor worse; or the clothing of them, with what may be [properly] called clothes, such as a shirt, a turban, or a loin cloth — it is not sufficient that these [items] mentioned be given only to one needy person, according to al-Shāfi‘ī; or the setting free of a, believing, slave, as applies in the expiation for slaying or repudiation through zihār, interpreting the general [stipulation] in a restricted sense; and whoever does not find the means, for any one of the [expiations] mentioned, then the fasting of three days, as an expiation for him — as it appears [in this verse], it is not obligatory to follow the [above] sequence [of alternatives when making an expiation], and this is the opinion of al-Shāfi‘ī. That, which is mentioned, is the expiation of your oaths if you have sworn, and have broken them; but keep your oaths, do not break them, unless it be for a righteous deed or setting right between people, as stated in the verse of sūrat al-Baqara [Q. 2:225]. So, in the same way that He has explained to you what has been mentioned, God makes clear to you His signs, so that you might be thankful, to Him for this.
