What is the ruling if an oath requires an action within a specified time, where the action is not debt repayment (e.g., eating, selling, striking)?
General Chapter
Al-Mughni
Book of Expiations
Primary text
For actions other than debt repayment, such as eating, selling, or striking, if a specific time is designated for the action, and the cause of the oath does not imply hastening the action, the obligor is only absolved by performing the action within that specified time. Performing the action before the time does not absolve the oath.
Supporting text
Al-Qadi and some followers of Abu Hanifa hold that hastening the action before the specified time is sufficient for absolution. However, the ruling is that if no intention or cause directs the oath toward acceleration, performing part of the act before the specified time and part within it does not absolve the oath. Absolution requires the completion of the entire act specified in the oath, and leaving part of it beyond the time is treated as leaving all of it, unless the intention was not to exceed that time or the cause implies it.