224وَلا تَجعَلُوا اللَّهَ عُرضَةً لِأَيمانِكُم أَن تَبَرّوا وَتَتَّقوا وَتُصلِحوا بَينَ النّاسِ ۗ وَاللَّهُ سَميعٌ عَليمٌMuhammad AsadAND DO NOT allow your oaths in the name of God to become an obstacle to virtue and God-consciousness and the promotion of peace between men:1 for God is all-hearing, all-knowing.Lit., "do not make God, because of your oaths...", etc. As can be seen from verse 226, this injunction refers primarily to oaths relating to divorce but is, nevertheless, general in its import. Thus, there are several authentic Traditions to the effect that the Prophet Muhammad said: "If anyone takes a solemn oath [that he would do or refrain from doing such-and-such a thing], and thereupon realizes that something else would be a more righteous course, then let him do that which is more righteous, and let him break his oath and then atone for it" (Bukhari and Muslim; and other variants of the same Tradition in other compilations). As regards the method of atonement, see 5:89.