There is no expiation for a false oath (ghamus)

Question

Question: Zayd picked up an item belonging to Umar and put it in his box; in reality that item belonged to Bakr. A little later Zayd was looking for the item in his box, when another man said that Bakr had taken it. Zayd said: “Well, it is good that he took his own thing.” Then the next day Umar came and demanded it from Zayd. To shield himself, Zayd, relying on what that man had said, swore that Bakr had taken the item. In this case, does Zayd become an oath-breaker (hanith) or not?

Answer

In this case, if the false oath was sworn knowingly, it is a sin, and there is no expiation (kaffara): expiation applies to a binding oath (mun‘aqida), whereas this case is one of a false oath (ghamus).

Source: Fatawa Mahmudiyya

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