Does drinking break an oath sworn against eating something, or eating break an oath sworn against drinking?
General Chapter
Al-Mughni
Book of Expiations
Primary text
When one swears not to eat something and drinks it, or swears not to drink it and eats it, there are conflicting reports from Ahmad. One report states the oath is broken because the customary intent of swearing to abstain from eating or drinking is generally to avoid that item entirely, as seen in Quranic verses about consuming wealth (Quran 4:2, 4:10), where the prohibition extends beyond mere ingestion to all utilization. If a doctor instructs a patient not to eat honey, the prohibition implies not drinking it either.
Supporting text
The second report states the oath is not broken, which is the position of Al-Shafi'i, Abu Thawr, and the Aṣḥāb al-Ra’y, arguing that eating and drinking are distinct actions, just as consuming one type of substance does not break an oath on another. Al-Qadi differentiates: if the item is specified (e.g., 'not to eat this powdered sweet'), then the disagreement on eating vs. drinking applies; but if the item is general (e.g., 'not to eat sweet powder'), a single ruling applies that the oath is not broken by the other action. However, the sounder view is that the difference between specified and general items is irrelevant; if there is disagreement on the specified case, it applies to the general case due to lack of distinction. If the oath is conditional on intent, the ruling follows the intent or the contextual indication, as oaths are based on intention.