Broken Vows While Suffering From Waswas
Question

                One affected by waswas (insinuating whispers) swore many oaths that he would not do an action again, then he broke the oaths. He has sworn many oaths and vows, and only Allah knows how many they are, and he is suffering from waswas. How can he expiate for what has passed?
Praise be to Allah.
	Firstly:

	If a person swears many oaths 
	and breaks them, and does not offer expiation, one of two scenarios apply. 

	1 – The vows were all to do with 
	one thing, such as saying, “By Allah, I will not smoke,” then he breaks the 
	oath and does not offer expiation for that. Then he swears again that he 
	will not smoke, then he breaks the oath… in this case one expiation is 
	required. 

	2 – The oaths have to do with 
	several actions, such as saying, “By Allah, I will not drink; by Allah, I 
	will not wear (certain clothes); by Allah, I will not go to such and such a 
	place,” then he breaks all those oaths. Does he have to offer one expiation 
	or as many expiations as the oaths he swore and broke? There is a difference 
	of opinion among the fuqaha (jurists) concerning this matter. The majority 
	are of the view that he must offer several expiations, but the Hanbalis say 
	that he only has to offer one expiation. 

	The more correct view is that of 
	the majority, because these were oaths to do several things, and breaking 
	one of them does not mean that another is broken, they are not 
	interconnected. 

	Al-Shaykh Ibn Baz (may Allah 
	have mercy on him) was asked: I am a young man and I swore to Allah more 
	than three times that I would repent from a haram (unlawful) action. My 
	question is: do I have to offer one expiation or three? And what is my 
	expiation? 

	He replied: You have to offer 
	one expiation, which is feeding or clothing ten poor persons, or freeing a 
	slave. Whoever cannot do that must fast for three days, because Allah, may 
	He be glorified, says (interpretation of the meaning): 

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. (5:89) 

	This applies to every oath that 
	is made to do one thing or to refrain from one thing; if the oath is sworn 
	repeatedly, only one expiation is required, if he did not offer expiation 
	the first time. But if he offered expiation the first time, then he repeated 
	the oath, then he must offer another expiation if he breaks the oath. 
	Similarly, if he repeated it a third time and had offered expiation the 
	second time, he must offer a third expiation. 

	But if he swore oaths to do 
	several things or to refrain from several things, then he must offer 
	expiation for each one, such as if he said, “By Allah I will not speak to so 
	and so,” and “By Allah I will not eat food,” and “By Allah, I will not 
	travel to such and such a place,” and “By Allah, I will speak to so and so” 
	and “By Allah, I will hit him,” and so on. 

	What must be done is to give 
	each poor person half a sa’ (dry measure) of the local staple food, which is 
	approximately one and a half kilograms. With regard to clothing, it should 
	be what is sufficient for prayer, such as a thobe (robe) or a rida and izar 
	(upper and lower garment). If he gives them dinner or lunch (a meal), that 
	is sufficient, because of the general meaning of the ayah quoted above. And 
	Allah is the source of strength.  

	End quote from Majmoo’ Fatawa 
	al-Shaykh Ibn Baz (23/145) 

	Secondly: 

	If the person asked about is 
	suffering from waswas, and he swore these oaths under the influence of that 
	waswas, without intending to do so or wanting to swear an oath, then he does 
	not have to do anything. 

	Shaykh Ibn ‘Uthaymeen (may Allah 
	have mercy on him) said: If a person is suffering from waswas, his divorce 
	does not count as such if he utters the words of divorce, if it was not done 
	intentionally, because this utterance of divorce was caused by the waswas 
	and was not intended, rather he was compelled to do it because of the 
	strength of the waswas and his lack of willpower to resist it. The Prophet 
	(peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said: “There is no divorce when 
	one is compelled.” So the divorce does not count as such if he did not truly 
	intend it willingly. This is something that he was compelled to do and did 
	not intend or choose to do, so it does not count as a divorce. End quote 
	from Fatawa Islamiyyah (3/277). 

	If this applies to divorce, then 
	it applies even more so to oaths, because the issue of marriage is more 
	serious than the issue of oaths. 

	And Allah knows best.