Answer
Wa `alaykum As-Salamu wa Rahmatullahi wa Barakatuh.
In the Name of Allah, Most Gracious, Most Merciful.
All praise and thanks are due to Allah, and peace and blessings be upon His Messenger.
In this fatwa:
The person who deliberately makes a false oath should repent and ask for Allah’s forgiveness. He should either feed ten poor people or provide them with clothes. If one cannot afford it, then he should observe fasting for three days.
Responding to your question, Dr. Muzammil H. Siddiqi, Former President of the Islamic Society of North America, states:
Making a false oath in the name of Allah or by placing the hand on the Quran is a major sin. Allah Almighty says:
{Allah will not hold you accountable for that which is unintentional in your oaths, but He will hold you accountable for your deliberate oaths. The expiation of such oath is feeding of ten poor persons on a scale of the average for the food of your families; or clothe them; or give a slave his freedom. If it is beyond your means, fast for three days. That is the expiation for the oaths you have sworn. Guard your oaths. Thus Allah does make clear to you His signs, that you may be grateful.} (Al-Ma’idah 5:89)
The Prophet (peace be upon him) warned Muslims from the terrible consequences of making false oaths.
The Expiation
The person who deliberately makes a false oath should repent and ask for Allah’s forgiveness. He should also make the kaffarah (expiation) that is given in the Quranic verse mentioned above.
He should either feed ten poor people by giving them a day’s meal of the same standard as one eats himself or provide them with clothes. If one cannot afford it, then he should observe fasting for three days.
One must not take a false oath lightly because someone is putting pressure on him. However, an oath taken under compulsion is not a deliberate oath and its sin will be on the person who forced the oath taker.
Allah Almighty knows best.
Editor’s note: This fatwa is from Ask the Scholar’s archive and was originally published at an earlier date.