A teacher swearing an oath and then breaking it

Question

Question: A boy behaved insolently, and the teacher, under compulsion (jabran), swore: “I will never teach you” (میں تمہیں کبھی نہیں پڑھاؤنگا). The teaching of the other children continues, and the education of the one whom he swore not to teach has not stopped either: he is being taught by another teacher. Now the boy is asking the teacher’s forgiveness and wants to study with the respected scholar, his teacher.

Answer

If no arrangement could be made for his education, then after his sincere repentance it would become necessary to break one’s oath and then pay the kaffara. But now that another arrangement for his education exists, breaking the oath is not wajib. Nevertheless, noble character demands precisely that he be forgiven. May the Exalted Truth grant him sincere repentance.

Source: Fatawa Mahmudiyya

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