He swore on the Qur’aan that he would not go to more than one doctor, and he wants to break that oath
Question I have been psychologically ill for 15 years. I feel that I cannot breath; I cannot sleep if I do not use a sleeping pill either. I sometimes have anxiety attacks, for which I visit many different doctors. My wife became upset because of this; so I swore by Quraan to her that I…
Question
Praise be to Allah.
Firstly:
We ask Allaah to heal you and make you well, and we advise
you to regularly recite dhikr and read Qur’aan, and ask Allaah and turn to
Him, for all things are in His hand, may He be glorified.
For the remedy for anxiety and stress, please see question
no. 21677.
Secondly:
If you swore that you would not go to more than one doctor,
then you needed to go to more than one doctor, there is nothing wrong with
you doing that, but you have to offer expiation for breaking an oath
(kafaarat yameen), because the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah
be upon him) said: “Whoever swears an oath then sees that something else is
better than it, let him do that and offer expiation for his oath.” Narrated
by Muslim (1650).
But you should tell the doctor about your need for the
medication, and you should ask him about increasing the dose for you, and
you should not take such a decision by yourself, because of the harmful
effects to which it may lead in the future.
Thirdly:
The one who swears by the Mus-haf intends either to swear by
that which it contains of the words of Allaah, which is a binding oath for
which expiation must be offered if it is broken, or he intends to swear by
the paper, which is an oath sworn by something other than Allaah and it is
shirk from which he must repent and resolve not to do it again, but he does
not have to offer expiation if he breaks his oath, because it is a haraam
oath that is not binding. Please see the answer to question no.
98194.
And Allaah knows best.
