Yahya bin Sa'id (may Allah have mercy on him) said: I heard al-Qasim bin Muhammad (may Allah have mercy on him) saying: A woman came to Sayyiduna Ibn Abbas (may Allah be pleased with them both) and said: "I have vowed to slaughter my son." Sayyiduna Ibn Abbas (may Allah be pleased with them both) said: "Do not slaughter your son, and expiate your oath." An elder who was sitting with Sayyiduna Ibn Abbas (may Allah be pleased with them both) said: "How can there be expiation in this?" Sayyiduna Ibn Abbas (may Allah be pleased with them both) said: Allah Almighty has said: "Those who pronounce zihar on their wives" [Surah al-Mujadilah: 3]. Then there is expiation in it, as you see.
(b) In the narration of Ja'far, the elder said: "How can there be expiation in obeying Satan?" He said: "Of course; does Allah not say" and he mentioned the same meaning.
This chain is sahih (authentic).
(c) Ikrimah (may Allah have mercy on him) narrates from Sayyiduna Ibn Abbas (may Allah be pleased with them both) that he should slaughter a ram.
Hadith Referenceالسنن الكبرى للبيهقي / كتاب الأيمان / 20079
Ibn Jurayj (may Allah have mercy on him) narrates from Ata' (may Allah have mercy on him) that a man said to Ibn Abbas (may Allah be pleased with them both): "I have vowed to slaughter my son," so Ibn Abbas (may Allah be pleased with them both) ordered him to slaughter a ram. He said: "There is for you in the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) an excellent example" [Surah al-Ahzab: 21].
This is how I found it in this narration.
Hadith Referenceالسنن الكبرى للبيهقي / كتاب الأيمان / 20081
Ata' (may Allah have mercy on him) narrates from Ibn Abbas (may Allah be pleased with them both) that, about a man who vowed to slaughter himself, he said: "There is for you in the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) an excellent example" [Surah al-Ahzab: 21], and he gave him the ruling to slaughter a ram.
This indicates that the narration of Uthman bin Umar is an error; and others besides Sufyan narrated it likewise from Ibn Jurayj.
Hadith Referenceالسنن الكبرى للبيهقي / كتاب الأيمان / 20082
Ata bin Abi Rabah (may Allah have mercy on him) narrated that a man came to Ibn Abbas (may Allah be pleased with them both) and said: I have vowed to slaughter myself. Ibn Abbas (may Allah be pleased with them both) said: "Indeed, in the Messenger of Allah you have an excellent example." [Surah al-Ahzab: 21] Then Ibn Abbas (may Allah be pleased with them both) recited: "And We ransomed him with a great sacrifice." [Surah al-Saffat: 107] This indicates that by 'the Messenger of Allah' here, Ibrahim (peace be upon him) is meant, and (blessings) upon our Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him).
(b) Another fatwa on this matter has also been reported from Ibn Abbas (may Allah be pleased with them both).
Hadith Referenceالسنن الكبرى للبيهقي / كتاب الأيمان / 20083
Kurayb (may Allah have mercy on him) narrates from Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Abbas (may Allah be pleased with them both) that a man came to him and said: I have vowed to slaughter myself. The narrator said: At that time there was a man with Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Abbas (may Allah be pleased with them both) who wanted to go out for jihad, and his parents were also present, and Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Abbas (may Allah be pleased with them both) was telling him: Stay with your parents. The narrator said: He (the one who had made the vow) began to say: I have vowed to slaughter myself. So Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Abbas (may Allah be pleased with them both) said: What am I to do with you? Go and kill yourself. When Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Abbas (may Allah be pleased with them both) had finished with that man and his parents, he said: Bring that man to me. They went and found him preparing to slaughter himself. They brought him to Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Abbas (may Allah be pleased with them both), and Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Abbas (may Allah be pleased with them both) said: You tried to make three things lawful: 1. violating the sanctity of the sacred city; 2. severing the ties of kinship, for your own self has the greatest right to have its ties kept; 3. and shedding forbidden blood. Do you have a hundred camels? He said: Yes. He said: Go and slaughter a third of the camels every year, but do not let the meat go to waste.
(b) Kurayb (may Allah have mercy on him) said: I was present for two years, but in the third year I was not present, and I do not know whether he did (so) or not.
Hadith Referenceالسنن الكبرى للبيهقي / كتاب الأيمان / 20084
Al-A'mash (may Allah have mercy on him) said: It reached me from Ibn Abbas (may Allah be pleased with them both) that he said: Had he pressed me (with excuses), I would have ordered him to slaughter a ram.
It has also been narrated through another route from Ibn Abbas (may Allah be pleased with them both) that he ordered a ram in a case like this.
The Shaykh (may Allah have mercy on him) said: The difference in his fatwas on this, and concerning one who vows to slaughter his son, indicates that he said it by inference and reasoning, not that he knew of an explicit ruling (tawqif) about it. And Allah knows best.
Hadith Referenceالسنن الكبرى للبيهقي / كتاب الأيمان / 20085
Ibn Awn (may Allah have mercy on him) said: A man told me that a man asked Sayyiduna Ibn Umar (may Allah be pleased with them both) about a certain man who had sworn not to speak to his brother, and that if he spoke to him, he would slaughter himself between the Maqam of Ibrahim and the Rukn during the days of Tashriq. He said: O my nephew! Tell the others as well: "There is no vow in disobedience." If someone swore not to fast Ramadan, let him fast; that is better for him. If he swore not to pray, then praying is better for him. Tell your companion to make expiation for his oath and to speak to his brother.
This report from Ibn Umar (may Allah be pleased with them both) is munqati' (has a broken chain).
Hadith Referenceالسنن الكبرى للبيهقي / كتاب الأيمان / 20086