Is a person bound if one swears an oath by God and another says, 'My oath is in your oath'?
General Chapter
Al-Mughni
Book of Expiations
Primary text
If a man swears an oath by God ('Allāh) not to do something, and another says, 'My oath is in your oath,' nothing is binding upon the second person. This ruling applies because the first person's oath is not the object (dharaf) for the second person's oath. If the second person intended that whatever is binding on the first person's oath becomes binding on him, the ruling of the oath is still not established upon him, according to Al-Qadi and the position of Al-Shafi'i. This is because an oath by God (Allāh) is not established through ambiguous wording (*kinayah*) due to the sanctity associated with invoking the respected name of God or His attributes, which is absent in ambiguous terms.