I am a Muslim girl living in Europe. I need your advice in the problem that I have last week I said to one of my friends if I discovered that M and I (it is 2 persons a male and female) married I swear on Allah (I said I swear 3 times) I will also marry F (a male who asked me for marriage). Within myself I promised God that for sure I would marry him if these 2 persons got married. Now I don't know what to do because I do not feel that I will marry F, because I don't want to marry him.

All perfect praise be to Allah, The Lord of the Worlds. I testify that there is none worthy of worship except Allah, and that Muhammad is His slave and Messenger.

It is obligatory on you to pay only one expiation for breaking one oath since you took this oath thrice on the same matter before paying the expiation. Ibn Umar, may Allah be pleased with him, said: “The expiation of repeatedly taken oaths is only one”.

You have to do one of the three things mentioned as expiation in the verse for the Muslim who breaks the oath. Allah Says (what means): {Allah will not impose blame upon you for what is meaningless in your oaths, but He will impose blame upon you for [breaking] what you intended of oaths. So its expiation is the feeding of ten needy people from the average of that which you feed your [own] families or clothing them or the freeing of a slave. But whoever cannot find [or afford it] — then a fast of three days [is required]. That is the expiation for oaths when you have sworn. But guard your oaths. Thus does Allah make clear to you His verses [i.e. revealed law] that you may be grateful.} [Quran 5:89]

You may pay the expiation of your oath before the marriage of your friend since you have already intended to break the oath or you may pay it after their marriage. But paying the expiation before their marriage is safer and more appropriate to comply with the Sharee’ah rules.

But we would like to warn our Muslim brothers against making oaths or hurrying in making them.

You should be patient and spare no efforts in searching for a pious, religious and noble man to marry.

However, you should avoid marrying a man who behaves badly and does not adhere to the rules of the Sharee’ah and commits sins.

May Allah guide you and us to what pleases Him.

Allah knows best.