12 months.' Furthermore, because 'shuhur' (months) is a plural of multitude, the minimum of which is ten, it is not applied to what a plural of paucity is applied to.

1839 - Issue: He said: (And if he swears to pay him his right at a [specific] time, but pays him before it, he does not break his oath, if he intended by his oath not to exceed that time.)

Abu Hanifa, Muhammad, and Abu Thawr held this view. Al-Shafi'i said: He breaks his oath if he pays him before it; because he left performing what he swore to do voluntarily, thus he broke his oath, just as if he had paid him after it. Our position is that the requirement of this oath is the acceleration of payment before the passing of the day. So if he pays him before it, he has paid before the passing of the day, and has done a greater good. Furthermore, the basis of oaths is upon intention, and this person’s intention by his oath was the acceleration of payment before the passing of the day, so his oath attached to this meaning, just as if he had expressed it. If he had no intention, one refers to the cause of the oath; if the cause implies acceleration, it is as if he had intended it, because the cause points to the intention. If he did not intend that, and the cause did not imply it, then the manifest aspect of al-Khiraqi’s statement is that he does not fulfill his oath except by paying it on the day, and he does not fulfill it by paying it before it. The Qadi said: He fulfills it in any case, because the oath is to urge the act, so whenever he accelerates it, he has achieved the intended purpose, so he fulfills it, just as if he had intended that. The first view is more correct, God willing, because he neglected to perform what his oath had covered by wording, and no intention or cause diverted it from that, so he broke his oath, just as if he had sworn to fast Sha'ban but fasted Rajab instead. It is possible that what the Qadi said regarding payment specifically is correct, because the custom of this oath regarding payment is acceleration, so the absolute oath is diverted toward it.

Section: As for other than paying a right, such as eating something, drinking it, selling something, buying it, or