Does entering a mosque or bathhouse break an oath not to enter a 'house' (Bayt)?
General Chapter
Al-Mughni
Book of Expiations
Primary text
If one swears not to enter a house (Bayt) and enters a mosque or a bathhouse, the oath is broken. This is stated by Ahmad. This is because both are literally houses, and the Quran refers to mosques as houses (Quran 22:36, 3:96), and narrations refer to the mosque as the house of the pious and the bathhouse as a bad house.
Supporting text
A probable view, held by the majority of jurists, is that the oath is not broken because these places are not commonly called 'house' in everyday usage. However, the first view prevails because if the term is both literally a house and named as such by the Legislator, entering it constitutes a breach.