http://al-islam.org/laws/vow.html
Vow (Nazr)
2649. Vow means making it
obligatory upon oneself to do some good act, or to
refrain from doing an act which it is better not to do,
for the sake of, or for the pleasure of Allah.
2650. While making a vow, a
formula declaration has to be pronounced, though is not
necessary that it should be in Arabic. If a person says:
"When the patient recovers from his ailment, it will be
obligatory upon me to pay $10 to a poor man, for the
sake of Allah," his vow will be in order.
2651. It is necessary that the
person making a vow is baligh and sane, and makes the
vow with free will and intention. If he has been coerced
to make a vow, or if he makes it owing to excitement,
without any intention or choice, his vow is not in
order.
2652. If a person who is
feeble-minded, (i.e. one who squanders his property for
useless purposes) makes a vow, for example, to give
something to poor, his vow is not in order. Similarly,
if a bankrupt person makes a vow to pay from the wealth
over which he has no right of disposal or discretion,
the vow will not be valid.
2653. If a husband disallows his
wife to make a vow, her vow will not be valid, if that
vow in any way violates the rights of the husband.
Similarly, a wife making a vow to pay from her wealth,
without her husband's permission, commits an act which
is not free from Ishkal, except when the vow is for
Hajj, Zakat, Sadaqa or for doing a good turn to her
parents, or her blood relations.
2654. If a woman makes a vow with
the permission of her husband, he cannot abrogate her
vow, or restrain her from fulfiling her vow.
2655. If a child (son or
daughter) makes a vow, with or without the permission of
his/her father, he/she should fulfil his/her vow.
However, if his/her father or mother disallows him/her
to fulfil the vow, his/her vow is void, provided that
the fulfilment of the vow does not have any priority.
2656. A person can make a vow
only for an act which is possible for him to fulfil. If,
for example, a person is not capable of travelling up to
Karbala on foot, and he makes a vow that he will go
there on foot, his vow will not be in order.
2657. If a person makes a vow
that he will perform a haraam or makrooh act, or that he
would refrain from a wajib or mustahab act, his vow is
not valid.
2658. If a person makes a vow
that he will perform or abandon a normal act, the
performing or abandoning of which has equal merits, his
vow is not in order. But if performing it is better in
some respect, and a person makes a vow keeping that
merit in view, for example, if he makes a vow that he
will eat a certain food so as to gain strength for
worshipping Allah, his vow will be in order.
Also, if its renouncing is better in some respect, and
the vow to renounce it is made with that intention, for
example, if he finds smoking is harmful and makes a vow
not to smoke, his vow is in order. However, at any time
when he feels that smoking is not harmful for him, the
vow will cancel by itself.
2659. If a person makes a vow,
that he will offer his obligatory prayers at a place
where offering does not inherently carry higher
spiritual merits, for example, he makes a vow to offer
his prayers in a certain room, his vow will be valid,
only if, offering prayers there has some merit, like,
being able to concentrate better due to solitude.
2660. If a person makes a vow to
perform an act, he should perform it in strict
accordance with his vow. If he makes a vow to give
Sadaqa, or to fast on the first day of every month, or
to offer prayers of the first of the month, if he
performs these acts before that day or after, it will
not suffice. Also, if he makes a vow that he will give
Sadaqa when a patient recovers, but gives away before
the recovery of the patient, it will not suffice.
2661. If a person makes a vow
that he will fast, without specifying the time and the
number of fasts, it will be sufficient if he observes
one fast. And if he makes a vow that he will offer
prayers, but does not specify its number and
particulars, it will be sufficient if he offers a two
rak'at prayers.
And if he makes a vow that he will give Sadaqa, not
specifying its nature or quantity, and he gives
something which can be deemed as Sadaqa, his vow will be
fulfilled. And if he simply makes a vow that he will act
to please Almighty Allah, his vow will be fulfilled if
he offers one prayers, or observes one fast, or gives
away something by way of Sadaqa.
2662. If a person makes a vow
that he will observe fast on a particular day, he should
observe fast on that very day; and if he does not
observe fast on that day intentionally, he should,
besides observing the qadha for that fast, also give
Kaffarah for it. And the Kaffarah applicable in this
case is the one prescribed for violation of the
Oaths, as will be mentioned later. However,
travelling for him on that day is permissible, and he
will not fast.
Also, it is not obligatory upon him to make a niyyat for
ten days so as to be able to fast. If a person who made
the vow could not fast on the particular day because of
being on a journey, illness, or in the case of a woman,
being in the state of Haidh, or for any good excuse,
then he will give only qadha of that fast, and there
will be no Kaffarah.
2663. If a person, of his own
choice and volition, violates his vow, he should give
Kaffarah for it.
2664. If a person makes a vow to
renounce an act for some specified time, he will be free
to perform that act after that time has passed. But if
he performs it before that time, due to forgetfulness,
or helplessness, there is no liability on him. Even
then, it will be necessary for him to refrain from that
act for the remaining time, and if he repeats that act
before it without any excuse, he must give Kaffarah for
it.
2665. If a person makes a vow to
renounce an act, without setting any time limit, and
then performs that act because of forgetfulness,
helplessness or carelessness, it is not obligatory for
him to give a Kaffarah, but, after the first instance,
if he repeats the act again at any time, voluntarily, he
must give Kaffarah for it.
2666. If a person makes a vow
that he/she will observe fast every week on a particular
day, for example, on Friday, and if Eid ul Fitr or Eid
ul Azha falls on one of the Fridays or an excuse like
journey (or menses in the case of women) springs up for
him/her, he/she should not observe fast on that day, but
give its qadha.
2667. If a person makes a vow
that he will give a specific amount as Sadaqa, and dies
before having given it away, it is not necessary that
that amount be deducted from his estate. It is better
that the baligh heirs of the deceased give that amount
as Sadaqa on his behalf, out of their own shares.
2668. If a person makes a vow
that he will give Sadaqa to a particular poor, he cannot
give it to another poor, and if that poor person dies,
he should on the basis of recommended precaution, give
the Sadaqa to his heirs.
2669. If a person makes a vow
that he will perform the Ziyarat of a particular holy
Imam, for example of Abu Abdillah Imam Husayn (A.S.) his
going for the Ziyarat of another Imam will not be
sufficient, and if he cannot perform the Ziyarat of that
particular Imam because of any good excuse, nothing is
obligatory on him.
2670. If a person has made a vow
that he will go for Ziyarat, but has not included in his
vow that he will do Ghusl or pray after the Ziyarat, it
is not necessary for him to perform those acts.
2671. If a person makes a vow
that he would spend some amount of money on the shrine
of one of the Imams, or the descendants of the Imams,
without having any particular project in mind, he should
spend it on the repairs, lighting, carpeting etc. of the
shrine.
2672. If a person makes a vow to
use something in the name of Holy Imam himself, and has
an intention to put it to a specific use, he should
spend it for that very purpose.
And if he has not made an intention to put it to any
specific use, it is better that he should use it for a
purpose which has some relationship with that Imam, for
example, he should spend it on poor Zawwar of that Imam,
or on the shrine of the Imam, like its repairs etc. or
for such purposes which would glorify the memory of that
Imam. The same rule applies in the case of the
descendants of the Imams.
2673. If someone makes a vow that
he would give a sheep as Sadaqa, or in the name of a
Holy Imam, and if it gives milk, or gives birth to a
young one, before it is put to use in accordance with
the vow, the milk or the lamb will be the property of
the person who made the vow, unless he had included them
in his vow. And the growth of fat on the animal will be
considered part of the vow.
2674. If a person makes a vow for
an act, if a patient recovers or a traveller returns
home, and if it transpires later that the patient had
already recovered or the traveller had already returned
before he had made the vow, it will not be necessary for
him to fulfil his vow.
2675. If a father or a mother
makes a vow that he/she will marry their daughter to a
Sayyid, the option rests with the girl when she attains
the age of puberty, and the vow made by the parents has
no significance.
2676. When a person makes a
covenant with Allah, that if his particular lawful need
is fulfilled, he will perform a good act, it is
necessary for him to fulfil the covenant. Similarly, if
he makes a covenant without having any wish, that he
will perform a good act, the performing of that act
becomes obligatory upon him.
2677. As in the case of vow, a
formal declaration should be pronounced in the case of
covenant ('Ahd) as well. And it is commonly held that
the covenant that one makes should be related to either
acts of worship, like, obligatory or Mustahab prayers,
or to acts whose performance is better than its
renunciation. But this is not so. In fact, all covenants
which fall within the category specified in rule no.
2680 related to
oaths, are valid and ought to be fulfilled.
2678. If a person does not act
according to the covenant made by him, he should give a
Kaffarah for it, i.e. he should either feed sixty poor
persons, or fast consecutively for two months, or set
free a slave.
Rules
regarding oath (Qasam)
2679. If a person takes an oath
that he will perform an act (e.g. that he will fast) or
will refrain from doing an act (e.g. that he will not
smoke), but does not intentionally act according to his
oath, he should give Kaffarah for it, which means he
should set a slave free, or should fully feed ten
indigent persons, or should provide them with clothes.
And if he is not able to perform these acts, he should
fast for three consecutive days.
2680. The conditions for validity
of an oath are:
-
A person who takes an oath should be
Baligh and sane, and should do so with free will and
clear intention. Hence, an oath by a minor, an
insane person, an intoxicated person, or by a person
who has been coerced to take an oath, will not be in
order. Similarly, if he takes an oath involuntarily,
or unintentionally, in a state of excitement, the
oath will be void.
-
An oath taken for the performance of
an act which is haraam or makrooh, is not valid.
Similarly, an oath for renouncing an act which is
obligatory or Mustahab is also void. And if he takes
an oath to perform a normal or usual act, it will be
valid, if that act has any preference in the
estimation of sensible people.
Similarly, if he takes an oath for renouncing a
usually permissible act, it will be valid if it is
deemed more preferable than its performance, by the
sensible people. In fact, in each case, his own
judgement about the preferences will be enough to
grant validity to the oath, even if other sensible
people may not concur.
-
The oath must be sworn by one of
those names of the Almighty Allah which are
exclusively used for Him, (e.g. 'Allah'). And even
if he swears by a name which is used for other
beings also, but is used so extensively for Him,
that when any person utters that name one is
reminded of Him Alone, for example, if he swears by
the name Khaliq (the Creator) and Raziq (the
Bestower), the oath will be in order.
In fact, if he uses other names or attributes of
Allah, which do not remind of Him, but give that
connotation when used during an oath, like Samee'
(All Hearing) or Baseer (All Seeing), even then the
oath will be valid.
-
The oath should be uttered in words,
but a dumb person can take an oath by making a sign.
Similarly, if a person is unable to utter the words,
he may write down the oath, repeating in his mind
the intention for it, that will be a valid oath,
though as a precaution, he may confirm the oath in
other ways as well.
-
It should be possible for him to act
upon his oath. And if he was able to act upon the
oath when he took it, but became incapable of acting
upon it later, the oath becomes nullified from the
time he became incapable of acting upon it, provided
that he did not incapacitate himself purposely. And
the same rule applies if acting upon one's vow,
oath, or covenant, involves unbearable hardship.
2681. If the father forbids his
son to take an oath, or the husband forbids his wife to
take an oath, their oath is not valid.
2682. If a son takes an oath
without the permission of his father, or a wife takes an
oath without the permission of her husband, the father
or the husband can nullify the oath.
2683. If a person does not act
upon his oath because of forgetfulness, helplessness or
heedlessness, he is not liable for Kaffarah. And the
same rule applies, if he is forced not to act upon his
oath. And if an obsessed person takes an oath like, if
he says: "By Allah, I am going to offer prayers now at
once," and then does not offer prayers owing to the
whims haunting him, which renders him incapable of
acting according to the oath it is not necessary for him
to give Kaffarah.
2684. If a person swears to
confirm that he is telling the truth, and if that is
actually the truth, his taking of the oath is Makrooh;
and if it is a lie, his taking of the oath is haraam. In
fact, to make a false oath in the cases of dispute is a
major sin. However, if a person takes a false oath in
order to save himself, or another Muslim from the
torture of an oppressor, there is no objection in it, in
fact, at times it becomes obligatory.
However, if a person can resort to 'Tauriyat'
(dissimulation), that is, if at the time of taking an
oath, he makes a vague, feigned utterance with no
intention of resorting to falsehood, then it is better
for him to do so. For example, if an oppressor or a
tyrant who wants to harm someone asks him whether he has
seen that person, and he had seen him an hour earlier,
he would say that he has not seen him, meaning in his
mind that he has not seen him during the last few
minutes.
Imam Hasan Askari (a.s) said:
An age will approach when the people's face would be
laughing (exalting) and their hearts would be dark,
bleak and dirty. The Sunnah to them would be innovation
and heresy and innovation would be (considered) Sunnah
among them and the transgressor would be honorable and
respectable among them. Their chiefs and lords would be
ignorant and aggressive ones. And the religious scholars
would be on the threshold of the aggressors and
tyrants. (Mustadrak ul Wasail vol2 pg 322.)
Question:
What are the conditions for validity of an oath?
Answer:
The conditions for validity of an oath are:
1) A person who takes an oath should be Baligh
and sane, and should do so with free will and clear
intention. Hence, an oath by a minor, an insane person,
an intoxicated person, or by a person who has been
coerced to take an oath, will not be in order.
Similarly, if he takes an oath involuntarily, or
unintentionally, in a state of excitement, the oath will
be void.
2) An oath taken for the performance of an act
which is Haraam or Makrooh, is not valid. Similarly, an
oath for renouncing an act which is Wajib or Mustahab is
also void. And if he takes an oath to perform a normal
or usual act, it will be valid, if that act has any
preference in the estimation of sensible people.
Similarly, if he takes an oath for renouncing a usually
permissible act, it will be valid if it is deemed more
preferable than its performance, by the sensible people.
In fact, in each case, his own judgment about the
preferences will be enough to grant validity to the
oath, even if other sensible people may not concur.
3) The oath must be sworn by one of those names
of the Almighty Allah which are exclusively used for
Him, (e.g. 'Allah'). And even if he swears by a name
which is used for other beings also, but is used so
extensively for Him, that when any person utters that
name one is reminded of Him Alone, for example, if he
swears by the name Khaliq (the Creator) and Raziq (the
Bestower), the oath will be in order.
In fact, if he uses other names or attributes of Allah,
which do not remind of Him, but give that connotation
when used during an oath, like Samee' (All Hearing) or
Baseer (All Seeing), even then the oath will be valid.
4) The oath should be uttered in words, but a
dumb person can take an oath by making a sign.
Similarly, if a person is unable to utter the words, he
may write down the oath, repeating in his mind the
intention for it, that will be a valid oath, though as a
precaution, he may confirm the oath in other ways as
well.
5) It should be possible for him to act upon his
oath. And if he was able to act upon the oath when he
took it, but became incapable of acting upon it later,
the oath becomes nullified from the time he became
incapable of acting upon it, provided that he did not
incapacitate himself purposely. And the same rule
applies if acting upon one's vow, oath, or covenant,
involves unbearable hardship.
Question:
If a person breaks his oath, what is he supposed to do?
Answer:
If a person takes an oath that he will perform an
act (e.g. that he will fast) or will refrain from
doing an act (e.g. that he will not smoke), but does
not intentionally act according to his oath, he
should give Kaffarah for it, which means he should
set a slave free, or should fully feed ten indigent
persons, or
should provide them with
clothes. And if he is not able to perform these
acts, he should fast for three consecutive
Dialogue on votive offering, pledge, and oath
A friend of mine complained to
me that his mother favoured his younger brother
over him. I asked him, “In what way?”. He
said, “By making a sacrificial offering, as a
token of thanksgiving to The Almighty for His
grace in restoring the health of my ill
brother”. I said to him, “Did you ask her
why?”. He replied, “Yes, she said to me that
making a vow for the speedy recovery of my
brother does not mean she favoured him over me.
She also said that my parents had already
slaughtered a sheep for me, by way of aqiqah
(meaning will follow) when I was only seven days
old and that they sacrificed an udhhiyah
(meaning will follow) for me”.
There I stopped him because the
words aqiqah and udhhiyah did not make any sense
to me. I promised him to resume talking about
it after I had asked my father.
* What is aqiqah and udhhiyah?
- Aqiqah, my son, is an
authentic sunnah (Prophetic practice, i.e. by
word and/or deed), for those who can afford it.
It was enjoined by the Prophet Mohammad (s.a.w).
A sheep or a cow is sacrificed on the seventh
day after the birth of the infant, male and
female, when his/her hair is cut.
It has been related from the
Prophet (s.a.w.) that he uttered adhan in the
ears of Imam Hassan and Imam Hussain (a.s.) when
they were born and offered a sacrificial animal
on the seventh day after their birth.
Those of us whose parents could
not afford aqiqah at the time, may do so
themselves.
* Well, this is aqiqah. What
is udhhiyah?
- Udhhiyah is to sacrifice an
animal on the day of Eidul Adhha. It is an
authentic sunnah of the Prophet (s.a.w.) too.
The meat of the sacrificed animal may be donated
on behalf of the dead and the living, both young
and adult. It may be done every year.
* Now, can I take you back to
the tale of my friend and his mother. Is it
compulsory that the woman fulfils her vow, or is
it mustahab, like aqiqah and udhhiyah, the
practice of which follows the sunnah?
- Let may say this to you.
To vow means that you commit
yourself to doing a particular thing, or forsake
a particular deed or word, for the sake of
Allah, the Most High.
Fulfilling a vow is not always
viable, unless certain criteria are met.
* What are these criteria?
- These are:
1. The wording of the vow, be
it in Arabic or any other language, should be
couched in such a way that the ultimate
objective is to seek the pleasure of Allah
Almighty, and that such wording should include
His name, i.e. Allah or any of his other
exclusive names and attributes.
* Should the person making the
vow not say, “I am indebted to Allah, God, or
the Merciful (ar-Rahman)”, what will happen?
- There shall be no obligation
to fulfil the vow.
2. The thing offered for a
votive offering should be ethically and
religiously viable, especially when it comes to
certain actions emanating from the vow.
* What if it was not
acceptable, yet it could be reprehensible,
damaging, or permissible?
- A vow is not in order, if the
deed contingent on the vow was reprehensible or
damaging. If it was permissible, it shall be
deemed sound when the ultimate intention leads
to a lawful action. For example, if you make a
vow to drink water to be more able to worship
God, your vow shall become binding.
3. The person making the vow
must be adult, sane, intent on carrying out the
vow, have free choice and access to that which
is related to his vow.
4. That which is vowed should
be identifiable and affordable.
* So, should I take it that, if
a person makes a vow according to the conditions
you have mentioned, he should be expected to
fulfil such a vow?
- Yes, it becomes binding on
him to carry out his vow, be it commission or
omission of an action, during a prescribed
period or for a lifetime, or donating anything.
* What if the person, who made
the vow, does not comply with it out of choice?
- Kaffarah shall become due.
That is emancipating a slave, or feeding ten
poor people, or clothing the same number of poor
people.
* If the person could not do
that because of want, for example?
- He should fast three
consecutive days.
* If a person makes a vow to
donate some money to the holy shrines, what
could be the avenues of spending that money?
- It could be spent on
repairing, maintaining, lighting, carpeting,
heating and air conditioning the shrine. That
is, if the donor did not specify any of these
avenues, or others.
* Should the person making the
vow specify his donation to the person of, say,
the Prophet (s.a.w.) or the Imam (a.s.), rather
than the building, how is it going to be spent?
- The donated money could be
distributed to the poor among the visitors of
the shrine or spent on maintaining the building.
* Should a person have a strong
inkling that they made a certain vow, is it
compulsory on them to fulfil it?
- Yes, if they were absolutely
sure.
If someone made a pledge to
Allah Almighty to do something or refrain from
committing a certain action, he must fulfil that
pledge.
* Does this mean that a pledge
is like a vow, in that it shall not be in order,
unless it caters for a particular wording that
includes the Name of Allah?
- Yes, and furthermore the
commission or omission of the action should be
acceptable, from a personal standpoint, and
lawful from a religious perspective.
It is worth noting, though, that
the same conditions, I explained earlier, which
apply in the case of a vow, apply in the case of
a pledge.
* Should the person who made
the pledge deliberately choose not to fulfil it,
what shall be the ruling?
- He must make up for flouting
the pledge by paying a kaffarah (expiation). In
this case, it is either setting a slave free,
feeding sixty poor people, or observing fasting
for two consecutive months.
Insofar as oath is concerned, it
should be fulfilled. If it was intentionally
broken, the kaffarah shall be either
emancipating one slave, or feeding or clothing
ten poor people. In the event of inability to
come up with any of these, fasting three days in
a row should suffice.
Central to the oath is the
wording, i.e. it should be linked to the Name of
Allah, such as “By Allah, or I swear by the
Almighty, I shall do this or that”. The action,
or otherwise, resulting from fulfilling the oath
ought to be acceptable and affordable; it
should also be lawful from a religious
standpoint. It should still be sound, if he
swore for a worldly gain. The person making the
oath should be adult, sane, exercising free
will, and clear in his mind as to the
consequences of the action.
* If someone said to another,
“By God, you have to do this or that”, would
this be deemed as oath?
- An oath does not extend to
include asking, or ordering, other people to
carry out certain actions. Also, it does not
cover the past. Thus, such oaths have no
consequence,
An Oath shall not become binding
on the son, if his father banned him from doing
certain things. Neither shall it become binding
on the wife, if she flagrantly disobeyed the
orders of her husband.
If either makes an oath without
the permission of either the father or the
husband, they can undo the oath.
* A person could make an oath
on the veracity of his honesty, for example. Is
it all right?
- Genuine oath is permissible,
yet makrouh.
As for false oath, it is
forbidden; it could be among grave sins, unless
it is made out of necessity.
* In what way?
- For example, if the person
making the oath was aiming at warding off
oppression from himself or his fellow
believers. The circumstances may warrant the
engaging in false oath to avert danger to one’s
life, honour, or those of his brethren.
However, if there was room for equivocation (tawriyah),
[he may resort to it].
days.
