Expiation for oaths

Kaffara derives from kufr in its sense of "covering", because it covers and effaces the sin; juristically it is what expiates — almsgiving, fasting and the like. The expiations are legislated by agreement and are obligatory in redress of specific sins and transgressions. ^{1 2}

The oath is called yamin because the Arabs would strike right hands when swearing a pact; its rulings are detailed under the headword "ayman". Its expiation falls due on breaking a sworn oath. ³

Sura al-Ma'ida fixes the expiation for one who breaks a bound oath: "feeding ten poor persons from the average of what you feed your families, or clothing them, or freeing a slave; whoever cannot find the means, fasting three days". ⁴

Kaffara, seeking forgiveness and repentance are each — God willing — a cause of the sin's remission; it differs from punishment ('uquba) in that it carries the meaning of worship, which a penalty does not. ^{2 4}