Book of Oaths

Chapter on Vows

الأيمان

Glossary

Book of Oaths

One who swears to refrain from something and then does it (that thing), or swears to do something and then does not do it, is bound to expiate for that broken oath. ¹⁵³¹ Expiation is not required if one says “Inshallah (Allah willing),” connected with the oath without separation, or if one does it under coercion or out of forgetfulness. ¹⁵³²

وَمَنْ حَلَفَ أَلاَّ يَفْعَلَ شَيْئًا، فَفَعَلَهُ، أَوْ لَيَفْعَلَنَّهُ فِيْ وَقْتٍ، فَلَمْ يَفْعَلْهُ فِيْهِ، فَعَلَيْهِ كَفَّارَةُ يَمينٍ، إِلاَّ أَنْ يَقُوْلَ: إِنْ شَاءَ اللهُ مُتَّصِلاً بِيَمِيْنِهِ، أَوْ يَفْعَلَهُ مُكْرَهًا أَوْ نَاسِيًا، فَلاَ كَفَّارَةَ عَلَيْهِ.

[Coercion and Forgetfulness]

If someone takes an oath to not do something but then does it under compulsion or absent-mindedly, he or she has not breached the oath. ¹⁵³³

وَمَنْ حَلَفَ أَلاَّ يَفْعَلَ شَيْئًا، فَفَعَلَهُ، أَوْ لَيَفْعَلَنَّهُ فِيْ وَقْتٍ، فَلَمْ يَفْعَلْهُ فِيْهِ، فَعَلَيْهِ كَفَّارَةُ يَمينٍ، إِلاَّ أَنْ يَقُوْلَ: إِنْ شَاءَ اللهُوإن حَلَفَ أَلاَّ يَفْعَلَ شَيْئًا فَفَعَلَه مُكْرَهًا أَوْ نَاسِيًا لَم يَحنَث.

1531. When someone takes an oath to do something or abstain from it, they must fulfill their oath or expiate. If it is something inferior, or they find another course of action superior, they are advised to do what is superior and expiate. The Messenger of Allah (SA) said:

“When one of you takes an oath and then finds (something) better, he should expiate his (breaching of the) oath and do what is better.” (M – from ‘Adiy)

" إِذَا حَلَفَ أَحَدُكُمْ عَلَى الْيَمِينِ فَرَأَى خَيْرًا مِنْهَا فَلْيُكَفِّرْهَا وَلْيَأْتِ الَّذِي هُوَ خَيْرٌ"

1532. The Prophet (SA) said:

“If one takes an oath and then says, ‘Inshallah’, he has made an exception (made it non-binding).” (D – from Ibn ‘Umar. Ḥib:Auth)

مَنْ حَلَفَ عَلَى يَمِينٍ فَقَالَ إِنْ شَاءَ اللَّهُ فَقَدِ اسْتَثْنَى.

1533. The Prophet (SA) said:

“Allah exempted my nation from what they do by mistake, absentmindedly, or under compulsion.” (Ma,Ḥib,H. al-Albâni:S; Nawawi:R)

إنَّ الله تَعالى وَضَعَ عَن أمَّتِي الخَطَأ، والنِّسيان، وما استُكرِهوا عَلَيه.

[Dipping (False) Oath]

There is no expiation for oaths concerning the past, whether one intended to lie or thought he or she was telling the truth, but it turned out to not be so. ¹⁵³⁴

وَلاَ كَفَّارَةَ فِي الْحَلْفِ عَلَى مَاضٍ، سَوَاءٌ تَعَمَّدَ الْكَذِبَ أَوْ ظَنَّهُ كَمَا حَلَفَ، فَلَمْ يَكُنْ.

[Slips of the Tongue]

There is also no expiation for the oath that one utters inadvertently, such as saying in the middle of speaking, “No, by Allah” or “Yes, by Allah.” This is because of the saying of Allah, Most High, that {Allah does not impose blame upon you for what is unintentional in your oaths…} (al-Baqarah 2: 225 and al-Mâ’idah 5: 89) ¹⁵³⁵

وَلاَ فِيْ اْليَمِيْنِ اْلجَارِيَةِ عَلىٰ لِسَانِهِ مِنْ غَيْرِ قَصْدٍ إِلَيْهَا، كَقَوْلِهِ فْيْ عُرْضِ حَدِيْثِهِ: لاَ وَاللهِ، وَبَلى والله؛ لِقَوْلِ اللهِ تَعَالى: "لَا يُؤَاخِذُكُمُ اللَّهُ بِاللَّغْوِ فِي أَيْمَانِكُمْ".

An expiation is only binding in the case of

وَلاَ تَجِبُ الْكَفَّارَةُ إِلاَّ فِي الْيَمِيْنِ بِاللهِ تَعَالَى، أَوِ اسْمٍ مِنْ

1534. Dipping (False) Oath
(A) + (+H, +M): There is no expiation for the false oath.

(S): There is expiation.

It is an enormity according to all. The Prophet (SA) said:

“The major sins are: ascribing partners to Allah, disobedience to parents, murder, and the dipping* (false) oath.” (B – from Ibn ‘Amr) *called dipping because it dips its taker into the hellfire

الكَبَائِرُ: الإشْرَاكُ بالله وَعُقُوقُ الوَالِدَيْنِ وَقَتْلُ النَّفْس وَاليَمِينُ الغَمُوسُ.

Ibn Mas‘ood (RA) said:

“We used to consider the sin that has no expiation (atonement in this world) to be the dipping (false) oath.” (Ibn al-Ja‘d)

كُنَّا نَعُدُّ الذَّنْبَ الَّذِي لَيْسَ لَهُ كَفَّارَةٌ الْيَمِينَ الْغَمُوسَ.

1535. ‘Â’ishah (RAH) said:

“This verse, {Allah does not impose blame upon you for what is unintentional in your oaths…}, was revealed about a man’s statement, ‘No, by Allah,’ and ‘Yes, by Allah’ (in the middle of his talk).” (B)

أُنْزِلَتْ هَذِهِ الآيَةُ لاَ يُؤَاخِذُكُمُ اللَّهُ بِاللَّغْوِ فِي أَيْمَانِكُمْ فِي قَوْلِ الرَّجُلِ لاَ وَاللَّهِ، وَبَلَى وَاللَّهِ

(breaching) an oath made in the name of Allah the Most High, or one of His names, or one of the attributes of His dhât (Divine Essence), such as His knowledge, might, power, greatness, covenant, or trust. ¹⁵³⁶ The exception to this is a vow with which an oath is intended; the expiation for it is like that for a breached oath. ¹⁵³⁷

أَسْمَائِهِ، أَوْ صِفَةٍ مِنْ صِفَاتِ ذَاتِهِ، كَعِلْمِهِ، وَكَلاَمِهِ، وَعِزَّتِهِ، وَقُدْرَتِهِ، وَعَظَمَتِهِ، وَعَهْدِهِ، وَمِيْثَاقِهِ، وَأَمَانَتِهِ، إِلاَّ فِي النَّذْرِ الَّذِيْ يُقْصَدُ بِهِ الْيَمِيْنُ، فَإِنَّ كَفَّارَتَهُ كَفَّارَةُ يَمِيْنٍ.

If one swears by all this ¹⁵³⁸ and the entire Qur’an, then breaches this oath, or if one repeats an oath on something before expiating for it, ¹⁵³⁹or if one makes one oath with multiple resolutions,¹⁵⁴⁰ only one single expiation will be binding on him

وَلَوْ حَلَفَ بِهَذَا كُلِّهِ، وَالْقُرْآنِ جَمِيْعِهِ فَحَنِثَ، أَوْ كَرَّرَ الْيَمِيْنَ عَلَى شَيْءٍ وَاحِدٍ قَبْلَ التَّكْفِيْرِ، أَوْ حَلَفَ عَلَى أَشْيَاءَ بِيَمِيْنٍ وَاحِدَةٍ، لَمْ يَلْزَمْهُ أَكْثَرُ مِنْ كَفَّارَةٍ.

1536. One may swear by Allah only; the Messenger of Allah (SA) said:

“Allah prohibits you from swearing by your fathers. Whoever intends to take an oath may only swear by Allah or remain silent.” (Ag – from Ibn ‘Umar)

إِنَّ اللَّهَ يَنْهَاكُمْ أَنْ تَحْلِفُوا بِآبَائِكُمْ فَمَنْ كَانَ حَالِفًا فَلْيَحْلِفْ بِاللَّهِ أَوْ لِيَصْمُتْ

1537. As when one says, “If I speak with him, Hajj will be binding upon me.” Although he did not swear by Allah, he still must expiate if he chooses not to perform Hajj.
The difference between a vow and an oath is that someone who takes a vow intends to oblige himself to perform a certain act, whereas someone who makes an oath intends to encourage himself to do something or discourage himself from doing something.

1538. Saying, for example, “By Allah and His might and glory, I will do such-and-such.”

1539. In another report from Aḥmad, if he swears by the entire Qur’an or by a chapter of it, he will have multiple expiations binding on him; the number will be equal to the number of verses in the Qur’an or in that chapter. (a)

1540. Saying, for example, “By Allah, I will not eat, drink, sleep, or sit, etc.”

or her. If he made multiple oaths concerning more than one resolution, then he is bound to expiate for every oath separately. ¹⁵⁴¹

وَإِنْ حَلَفَ أَيْمَانًا عَلَى أَشْيَاءَ، فَعَلَيْهِ لِكُلِّ يَمِيْنٍ كَفَّارَتُهَا.

[Equivocation]

One who equivocates in his oath, by intending something other than the obvious implication of his statement, is judged according to his intention – except for the wrongdoer, whose equivocation

وَمَنْ تَأَوَّلَ فِيْ يَمِيْنِهِ، فَلَهُ تَأْوِيْلُهُ، إِلاَّ أَنْ يَكُوْنَ ظَالِمًا، فَلاَ يَنْفَعُهُ تَأْوِيْلُهُ؛ لِقَوْلِ رَسُوْلِ اللهِ : "يَمِينُكَ عَلَى مَا يُصَدِّقُكَ بِهِ صَاحِبُكَ".

1541. For example, “By Allah, I will not eat,” “By Allah, I will not drink,” “By Allah, I will not sleep,” etc.
(A): If the person fails to expiate for breaching one oath before breaching the second and third, there will be only one expiation binding on him or her.

(A2) + (-H, -M, -S): One must expiate for each broken oath.

will not benefit him.¹⁵⁴² This is because the Messenger of Allah (SA) said, “Your oath is about

1542. Equivocation

This means using semantics to mislead others by intending something other than what a listener would be expected to understand – for instance, a man swearing that someone is his “brother,” knowing that it will be taken to mean his biological brother, while he actually means that he is his “brother in Islam.”

1) When a person takes an oath to convince someone else to believe him, he may be the oppressor, the oppressed, or neither. If he is the oppressor/delinquent party, and he is taking the oath to deceive the other party, then his equivocation does not spare him from sin and punishment. (See the hadith in the main text.)

2) If one takes the oath in order to protect himself or others from an oppressor, then equivocation is recommended over lying directly, although that may also be permitted if needed. (A)

‘Imrân ibn Ḥuṣayn used to say:

“The use of equivocation spares one from lying.” (Bukhari, Al-Adab al-Mufrad) The report traceable to the Prophet (SA) is not authentic.

إِنَّ فِي مَعَارِيضِ الْكَلاَمِ لَمَنْدُوحَةً عَنِ الْكَذِبِ

3) When one uses equivocation but without intending deceit (for example, intending to avoid embarrassment), and without wronging anyone or being wronged, it is not considered a sin. (A)

It is important to remember that equivocation may only be used very sparingly; otherwise, it becomes a gateway to lying and dishonesty.
Jokes that Contain Lies

(A): What can be understood from the positions of the scholars of the madh-hab is that jokes containing lies are forbidden, and they clearly forbade attending parties where such jokes are made. (SM, Kash-shâf al-Qinâ‘). Ibn Taymiyah also clearly said it was forbidden to make up stories to cause people to laugh.

Other scholars did not consider them lies if it was understood from the context that they were just jokes, and they allowed such jokes as long as they did not include mockery of anyone or obscenity.

The Prophet (SA) always held himself to the highest standard. Even in his jokes, he never said other than the truth. Abu Hurayrah narrated, “They said, ‘O Messenger of Allah! You joke with us?’ He said:

‘Indeed, I say nothing except a truth.’” (T. T:RS)

إِنِّي لاَ أَقُولُ إِلاَّ حَقًّا

the matter that your companion believes it to be about (because of your oath).” ¹⁵⁴³

1543. (M – from Abu Hurayrah)

Chapter on Vows

( Page : no 142)

Book of Oaths

Chapter on Vows

الأيمان

Introduction

The Book of Purification

The Book of Prayer

The Book of Funerals

The Book of Fasting

The Book of Hajj and 'Umrah

Book of Zakat

The Book of Selling and Commercial Transactions

The Book of Bequests

The Book of Inheritance

The Book of Marriage

The Book of Divorce

The Book of Sadaq

The Book of Dhihar

The Book of Lian

The Book of Foods

The Book of Oaths

Book of Fatal and Non-Fatal Assault

The Book of Indemnities

The Book of Hudood

The Book of Jihad

The Book of the Judiciary

The Book of Testimonies

Appendix

Glossary

Chapter on Vows