Does an oath not to perform an action, such as entering a place, require performing the entire action to fulfill the vow?

General Chapter

Al-Mughni

Book of Expiations

Book 60 · Issue 4 · Bab 1

Open in Qurani

Primary text

If a person swears not to enter a place, he is not absolved (yabirru) unless he enters the entirety of it. Similarly, if he swears to do something (affirmative oath), he is not absolved unless he performs all of it. This lack of variation in ruling, which lacks known scholarly disagreement, stems from the oath encompassing the entirety of the action, analogous to a divine command. The oath is a confirmed future report of an action, and reporting an action implies the performance of the whole.