Hanth (breaking an oath)

الحنث

Hanth lexically is a great sin and wrong-doing; technically it is breaking an oath, so that a swearer who does not do what he swore to do owes expiation. ¹ Barr is keeping an oath, and naqd, nakth and khulf are related words. ² The ruling on breaking follows the thing sworn to: an oath to do what is obligatory or to abstain from what is forbidden must be kept and breaking it is sin; an oath to abandon an obligation or do a forbidden act must be broken with expiation by the majority; the recommended and the permitted each follow their own rule. ^{2 3} Breaking an oath and atoning is recommended when one sees a better course than what was sworn. ³ Breaking applies only to a binding oath about the future; the majority hold the oath about the past, the perjurious oath, carries no expiation, and the idle oath cannot be broken. ³ Expiation is owed by one who breaks a binding oath; the Hanafis, Malikis and Hanbalis take the oath as the cause and the breach as a condition, while the Shafiis take both. ⁴ Expiation before breaking is allowed by the Malikis, Shafiis and Hanbalis but not by the Hanafis. ⁴ A positive oath is broken only when the chance of keeping it is gone, a negative one by the act itself, and a timed oath at the end of its time. ⁴ The majority do not hold a forgetful swearer to breach, the coerced breaches only if the coercion is not overpowering, and the Hanafis hold the forgetful to breach. ⁵