Encyclopedia of Prophetic Hadiths

"The expiation for a vow is the same as the expiation for an oath."

The Prophet (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) forbade vowing and said: "Indeed, it does not bring any good; rather it is only a means to extract something from the miser."

"Whoever takes a false oath to deprive a Muslim person of his property unlawfully, will meet Allah while He is angry with him." He said: Al-Ash‘ath said: By Allah, this was about me. I shared some land with a Jewish man. When he denied me my right, I complained against him to the Prophet (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him). The Messenger of Allah (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) said to me: "Do you have any proof?" I said: No. So he said to the Jew: "Swear an oath." I said: O Messenger of Allah, he will swear an oath and seize my property. So, Allah Almighty revealed: {Those who trade the covenant of Allah and their oaths for a small price...} to the end of the verse.

I went to the Messenger of Allah (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) along with a group of Ash‘ari people, asking him for mounts. He said: "By Allah, I will not give you anything to ride, and I have nothing to mount you on." We stayed there as long as Allah wished. Then some camels were brought to him, and he ordered that we be given three camels. When we set out, some of us said to others: "Allah will not bless us, as we all went to the Messenger of Allah (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) asking him for mounts, and although he had sworn that he would not give us mounts, he did give us." Abu Mūsa said: We went to the Prophet (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) and mentioned that to him. He said: "I have not provided you with mounts, but Allah has. By Allah, Allah Willing, if I ever take an oath and then see that another option is better than the first, I will make expiation for my oath and do what is better."