An oath to burn a piece of cloth

Question

Question: My wife, of her own accord, bought one and a half metres of cloth; she bought it secretly and put it away in another place. Now, in blessed Ramadan, after two years, it came before me, and I said: “I had refused this cloth — so why did you take it?” My wife said: “I had to take it, so I did it secretly, and now I will keep it.” Then in a fit of passion I said: “By God, I will set this cloth on fire, burn it up.” The point is: should I burn this cloth to ashes, or give it to someone?

Answer

For setting this cloth on fire you fixed neither a time, nor a day, nor a date. Therefore let the woman use this cloth, and when it becomes old, burn it — in this way the oath will be fulfilled. If you burn it right now in its present state, the oath will also be fulfilled, but it will be a loss.

Source: Fatawa Mahmudiyya

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