Leaving off the fulfillment of a vow to slaughter every year when unable to do so
Machine translationRead the Arabic original
The questioner:
This is Abu Khalid from Jeddah. He says: I vowed that if I got married, I would slaughter an animal for Allah the Exalted every year, if it was made easy for me. I have now been married for ten years, and I have only slaughtered for Allah in one year when it was made easy for me. As for the remaining years, I did not slaughter because it was not made easy for me as I had vowed. Is there anything required of me for leaving off those years?
The Shaykh:
If you were in a state of sufficiency and it was made easy but it was not made easy, then there is nothing required of you.
The questioner:
Shaykh, what is your view on obliging people to make these vows which they may not be able to fulfill, O Shaykh?
The Shaykh:
The reason for repeating the discussion about it and the prohibition of it is that a vow places a person in difficulty. If he is in good health, he may do good if he wishes, and if he does not wish, nothing is required of him; this is what leads him to burden himself. For this reason, the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) said:Sahih Muslim 1639c Therefore, the Muslim should avoid making vows and do good according to his ability, without binding himself to anything that Allah has not made obligatory upon him, and then becoming restricted. Yes.
The presenter:
May Allah reward you and bless you.
This is Abu Khalid from Jeddah. He says: I vowed that if I got married, I would slaughter an animal for Allah the Exalted every year, if it was made easy for me. I have now been married for ten years, and I have only slaughtered for Allah in one year when it was made easy for me. As for the remaining years, I did not slaughter because it was not made easy for me as I had vowed. Is there anything required of me for leaving off those years?
The Shaykh:
If you were in a state of sufficiency and it was made easy but it was not made easy, then there is nothing required of you.
The questioner:
Shaykh, what is your view on obliging people to make these vows which they may not be able to fulfill, O Shaykh?
The Shaykh:
The reason for repeating the discussion about it and the prohibition of it is that a vow places a person in difficulty. If he is in good health, he may do good if he wishes, and if he does not wish, nothing is required of him; this is what leads him to burden himself. For this reason, the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) said:
It does not (necessarily) bring good (in the form of substantial, and tangible results), but it is the meant whereby something is extracted from the miserly persons.
لا يأتي بخير وإنما يستخرج به من البخيلThe presenter:
May Allah reward you and bless you.
Source
نور على الدرب - الفوزان - 03/260 — archive.org (11:45)
The Arabic text is a machine transcription of the audio recording.