Broken oaths, deliberately broken fasts, and zihar — what each kaffarah costs and how to work it out.
Published September 11, 2026 · Reviewed by the Ihsabha Editorial Team
Kaffarah (كفارة) is an act of expiation required after certain deliberate religious violations. Unlike fidyah, which applies when someone is permanently unable to fulfil an obligation through no fault of their own, kaffarah applies when a specific act — breaking an oath, deliberately breaking a Ramadan fast, zihar, or unintentional killing — has already happened and needs to be atoned for. The amount, the form, and crucially whether you get a free choice or must follow a strict order, all depend entirely on which violation occurred, and getting this distinction right is more important than most people first realize.
When someone swears an oath by Allah and then breaks it, the Quran (Surah al-Ma'idah, 5:89) sets out the expiation with a free choice among three options, followed by a fourth if none of those is possible:
The first three options are considered equivalent alternatives that you may choose freely among based on personal preference or circumstance; fasting is only used when someone genuinely cannot afford to feed or clothe 10 people. This free choice among the first three, moving to fasting only as a last resort, is called takhyir in fiqh terminology — a structure that's genuinely different from the next category below. You may also find it useful to check Zakat on Cryptocurrency and Bitcoin: How Much You Owe, which covers a related angle. You can use the Kaffarah Calculator to get the result instantly, with no manual math.
This is the strictest category, and it only applies to a fast broken deliberately and without a valid excuse — eating or drinking on purpose during the fasting hours, for instance, not illness, travel, or another legitimate exemption that would instead call for qada or fidyah. Unlike the oath kaffarah above, this one follows a strict required sequence, called tartib, where you move to the next option only if the prior one is genuinely impossible for you, not simply less convenient:
This kaffarah is owed in addition to making up the missed day itself through qada — it does not replace it. Someone who deliberately breaks one day of their Ramadan fast owes both the kaffarah (feeding 60 people, or fasting 60 days if unable to feed) and separately still needs to fast one additional day later to make up the original missed day.
Zihar — a specific and now rare declaration historically made by a husband comparing his wife to a forbidden relative, effectively estranging her — carries its own kaffarah, following the same strict sequential order (tartib) as the Ramadan fast-breaking kaffarah above: freeing a slave first if possible, or if not, fasting 2 consecutive months, or if that's not possible either, feeding 60 poor people. Though genuinely rare in contemporary practice, it remains part of the classical framework and occasionally comes up in fiqh discussions or specific personal circumstances. It's also worth reading Zakat on Salary and Employment Income: How Much You Owe if this situation applies to you.
A less commonly discussed but still significant category: kaffarah for accidental killing (Surah al-Nisa, 4:92). This consists of freeing a slave, or if not possible, fasting two consecutive months — and this is owed in addition to, not instead of, any financial compensation (diyah) that may be due to the victim's family under applicable law. Because this situation is rare and typically arises alongside serious legal proceedings, anyone facing it should seek direct scholarly and legal guidance rather than relying on general reading alone. Try the Kaffarah Calculator to run these numbers with your own figures.
The distinction between takhyir (free choice) and tartib (strict sequence) is one of the most commonly misunderstood aspects of kaffarah. Getting it backward has real practical consequences: someone who deliberately broke a Ramadan fast and simply chooses to fast 60 days because it "feels more devout," while skipping ahead past an actual required check of whether freeing a slave or feeding is more applicable to their situation, hasn't done anything invalid, since fasting is the correct first option there anyway. But someone who breaks an oath and assumes they must fast 3 days as the primary option, when they're perfectly capable of feeding or clothing 10 people, has misunderstood the takhyir structure — fasting is meant as the fallback for that category, not the default choice.
Both the 60-day Ramadan-breaking kaffarah and the zihar kaffarah require the fasting days to be consecutive — a requirement that doesn't apply to ordinary qada fasting, which can be spread out however is convenient. If the sequence is broken partway through by a valid excuse (genuine illness, for example), most scholars hold that the count can resume rather than restart entirely, though views differ on exactly which interruptions qualify as valid versus which require starting over from day one. Voluntarily skipping a day without a genuine excuse, however, does require restarting the full 60 (or 2 months, for zihar) from the beginning. This consecutiveness requirement is precisely why many people who owe this kaffarah, and are physically able to fast, still end up choosing the feeding option instead — 60 uninterrupted days is a significant commitment that a single missed day, even for a minor reason, can reset entirely. You can find a fuller explanation of this specific point in Zakat on Retirement Accounts and Pension Funds.
The feeding options across all kaffarah types are meant for people who are genuinely poor or needy — broadly the same categories recognized for zakat recipients, such as those without sufficient income to meet basic needs. This generally excludes one's own direct dependents (a spouse or children already legally supported by the person paying), similar to the restriction on zakat and fidyah, since the point is to genuinely reach someone outside the household in need, not to redirect the obligation back to oneself. In practice, many people fulfill feeding-based kaffarah through an established charity or mosque program that already identifies and verifies eligible recipients, which removes the burden of personally locating and confirming 10 or 60 individuals — a genuinely difficult task to do reliably on one's own, especially at the larger 60-person scale, and one where a trusted intermediary organization genuinely adds practical value beyond convenience alone. For an instant, practical check, the Kaffarah Calculator is ready to go.
A common practical question involves repeated instances of the same violation — swearing and breaking multiple separate oaths, for example, or breaking more than one day of Ramadan deliberately. The general rule is that each distinct violation requires its own separate kaffarah, so breaking three separate oaths on three different matters generally means three separate kaffarahs are owed, not one combined payment. An important exception scholars discuss is when someone repeatedly breaks the same specific oath about the same matter before ever fulfilling the kaffarah for the first breach — in that narrower case, many scholars hold that a single kaffarah suffices for all the repeated breaches of that one oath, rather than multiplying per repetition, though this specific point is genuinely debated and worth confirming for your exact situation. If you want to go further, Zakat on Cash and Bank Savings: How Much You Owe explains this point in more depth.
Readers often pause at the "free a slave" option appearing in several kaffarah types, since slavery has no legal or practical existence in the vast majority of the world today. This option was one of several genuine paths available at the time these rulings were established, and Islamic legal tradition, including manumission-focused kaffarah, is widely recognized by scholars as having actively worked toward ending slavery through mechanisms like this one over time. In virtually all contemporary situations, this option is simply inapplicable and practically skipped in favor of the fasting or feeding alternative in the sequence, exactly as the classical texts anticipated by including a next step for when this option wasn't available.
Suppose someone deliberately breaks 2 days of their Ramadan fast without excuse and is unable to fast 60 consecutive days for health reasons, and freeing a slave isn't applicable. They would owe 60 poor people fed for each day — 120 people fed in total (or its cash equivalent, based on the average cost of a meal locally), in addition to making up the 2 missed fasting days separately through qada.
A second example — broken oath. Someone swears an oath not to speak to a family member again, then breaks it a month later by reconciling. They choose to feed 10 poor people at $6 per meal: 10 × $6 = $60, fulfilling the kaffarah through their free choice among the first three options.
Work out your exact amount instantly. Ihsabha's Kaffarah Calculator walks through the violation type and calculates the number of people to feed or days to fast, using current local meal-cost estimates, and correctly applies the takhyir or tartib structure depending on which kaffarah applies to you.
Kaffarah is a religious expiation owed for specific serious violations, such as deliberately breaking a Ramadan fast without a valid excuse, breaking a sworn oath, or zihar. It is separate from fidyah, which covers permanently missed worship.
Kaffarat al-yamin is feeding 10 poor people (or clothing them), or freeing a slave where applicable. If none of these are possible, fasting 3 consecutive days is the alternative.
The classical scale is fasting 60 consecutive days; if that is not possible, feeding 60 poor people, roughly one meal or its cash equivalent per person, per day broken.
Kaffarah is a heavier expiation owed for a deliberate violation, such as knowingly breaking a Ramadan fast without excuse. Fidyah is a lighter feeding payment owed instead of fasting for those genuinely unable to fast, such as the elderly or chronically ill, with no element of wrongdoing involved.
It depends on the type. Kaffarat al-yamin (broken oath) allows free choice among feeding, clothing, or freeing a slave, with fasting only if none of those is possible. Kaffarah for deliberately breaking a Ramadan fast, and kaffarah for zihar, both follow a strict required sequence rather than free choice, moving to the next option only if the prior one is genuinely not possible.
Yes. Kaffarat al-qatl applies to accidental killing and consists of freeing a slave, or if not possible, fasting two consecutive months, in addition to any financial compensation (diyah) owed to the victim's family under applicable law.
If the break was due to a genuine excuse such as illness, most scholars hold the count can resume rather than restart entirely, though views differ on exactly which interruptions qualify. A voluntary, unexcused break generally requires restarting the full 60 consecutive days from day one.
Which kaffarah applies, and in what order the options are followed, can depend on personal circumstances and school of thought. This guide covers the widely-followed general rulings. For your specific situation, especially around zihar, unintentional killing, or repeated violations, confirm with a qualified local scholar.
Put this into practice with Ihsabha's Fidyah Calculator and Missed Fasting Days Calculator. For related reading on Ihsabha's blog, see Fidyah: Who Must Pay It and How Much, Qada Fasting: How to Make Up Missed Ramadan Days, and Zakat al-Fitr: The Complete Guide.