Is the phrase “May Allah not admit me to Paradise if I do not do such-and-such” considered an oath?
Machine translationRead the Arabic original
Question:
A while back, when I was a teenager, I got into a fight with a person. The point is, when I ran away, I swore that I would hit him, that I would hit him, using this phrase: “May Allah not admit me to Paradise if I do not hit him.” I was in a state of great anger, but after Allah the Exalted guided me, I repented from that. Now I see that man and greet him with the salam without saying anything to him or hitting him. My question is: what is required of me after this? Do I owe an expiation?
Answer:
You do not owe an expiation because this phrase is not an oath. It is your saying, "May Allah put me in the Fire if I do not hit him." This is not an oath. And what you mentioned about leaving this thing and not carrying it out, you are to be rewarded for that. For Allah, Glorified and Exalted is He, described the believers by saying:[Ash-Shuraa 42:37]. And the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: Bulugh al-Maram 16:45 Sahih Muslim 2609a And Allah, Exalted and Majestic is He, says: [Al-A'raf 7:200] So praise be to Allah who guided you to leave carrying out the anger, and guided you to greet your brother, show affection to your brother, and deal with him well. This is the conduct of a believer. Yes.
A while back, when I was a teenager, I got into a fight with a person. The point is, when I ran away, I swore that I would hit him, that I would hit him, using this phrase: “May Allah not admit me to Paradise if I do not hit him.” I was in a state of great anger, but after Allah the Exalted guided me, I repented from that. Now I see that man and greet him with the salam without saying anything to him or hitting him. My question is: what is required of me after this? Do I owe an expiation?
Answer:
You do not owe an expiation because this phrase is not an oath. It is your saying, "May Allah put me in the Fire if I do not hit him." This is not an oath. And what you mentioned about leaving this thing and not carrying it out, you are to be rewarded for that. For Allah, Glorified and Exalted is He, described the believers by saying:
and when they are angry, they forgive,
وَإِذَا مَا غَضِبُوا هُمْ يَغْفِرُونَ(ﷺ) said: “The strong man is not the good wrestler; but
صلى الله عليه وسلم ليس الشديد بالصرعة، إنماthe strong man is one who controls himself when he is in a fit of rage
الشديد الذي يملك نفسه عند الغضب،And if an evil suggestion comes to you from Satan, then seek refuge in Allah. Indeed, He is Hearing and Knowing.
وَإِمَّا يَنزَغَنَّكَ مِنَ الشَّيْطَانِ نَزْغٌ فَاسْتَعِذْ بِاللَّهِ إِنَّهُ سَمِيعٌ عَلِيمٌ
Source
قناة «العلامة الدكتور صالح الفوزان»، هل عبارة (الله لا يدخلني الجنة إذا ما فعلت كذا) في حكم اليمين؟ الشيخ صالح الفوزان — youtube.com
The Arabic text is a machine transcription of the audio recording.