Breaking a promise made to Allah
Question
1. If I make a promise and say insha Allah after it, would I have to pay kaffarah if I break that promise? For example, if I say I promise not to eat a chocolate for three days insha Allah and end up eating the chocolate would I have to pay kaffarah for breaking that promise?
2. If I have to pay kaffarah, how much do I have to pay?
3. If I have to pay the kaffarah and I made a few other promises just like that and they're all broken, do I have to pay separately for each, or once for all of them?
Answer
It is extremely important for one to fulfill the promise one has made to Allah Ta’ala. However, since a promise is not an oath, if one breaks the promise, kaffarah will not become compulsory.
If you had made a promise to Allah Ta’ala and thereafter you broke the promise, then you should make sincere tawba and repent to Allah Ta’ala for breaking your promise.
And Allah Ta'ala (الله تعالى) knows best.
- Answered by
- Mufti Zakaria Makada
- Checked & approved by
- Mufti Ebrahim Salejee (Isipingo Beach)
Where scholars differ, it’s safer to take the more cautious view.
Fatawa SA is an independent, read-only index of fatawa already published by Mufti Online — Madrasah Ta'leemuddeen. It is not a fatwa service. For your own situation, please ask a Mufti. Report an issue
For corrections or mistakes, please email us at fatawasa786@gmail.com.
Source: Mufti Online — Madrasah Ta'leemuddeen — https://muftionline.co.za/node/32783
Fatawa SA: https://fatawa.co.za/fatwa/muftionline-32783
People also ask
What is the kaffaarah for breaking an oath?
“In order to absolve him of the oath he had taken, it is permissible for him to discharge kaffaarah on behalf of each oath that he had broken. The kaffarah is to feed 10 poor people two meals or give them the amount of sadaqatul…”
Mufti Online · 139 fatawa from 6 Darul Iftas on this
What the Darul Iftas saySame question, other Darul Iftas
The closest match from each Darul Ifta, found by wording. Check that the question matches yours.
Ibn Masood30 Jan 2024Breaking a promiseWhen one breaks his promise to Allah what should he do? Will paying some Sadaqah suffice?
Ask Imaam15 Jul 2013Breaking a promise made to AllāhIf we promise Allāh that we will do a certain Ibadah, and we could not do it, will we have to do any other…
Related fatawa
Mufti Online25 Dec 2016Breaking one's promise with Allah Ta'alaIf someone did a promise with Allah Ta'ala to leave some specific sin in private and no people are of…- Mufti Online29 Jun 2021Breaking a promise to AllahI promised Allah not to commit a sin and if I commit that sin I will fast for 30 days. I have broken that…
- Mufti Online14 Oct 2017Breaking a promiseHow to repent if I break a promise to myself upon Allah? What's the expiation for it?
Azaadville10 May 2022Difference Between A Promise And A VowIs the word promise regarded as a vow? Example – I promise that I will do… Is this a vow?
Camperdown18 Dec 2025Ruling and Kaffarah for a Verbal PromiseAsssalamualikum Maulana, please let me know what is the ruling and kaffarah I told my student, I promise I…