What is the ruling on one who finds it difficult to fulfill a vow?
Machine translationRead the Arabic original
Question:
May Allah reward you. The questioner says: I am a man who was afflicted with a sin, so I vowed that every time I fall into it, I would give a known amount of money in charity. I did this for a while, but then the vow became difficult for me until the amount owed from the vow became a sum I cannot currently pay. What is obligatory for me?
Answer:
This vow is like an oath. You must pay the expiation for an oath: feeding ten poor people, or clothing them, or freeing a slave. If you cannot find the means, you fast for three days. This vow is like an oath because your intention with it was to prevent yourself from sin. So you pay the expiation for an oath and repent to Allah the Exalted with a sincere repentance, leaving the sin. You do not need a vow. Repent to Allah and resolve to leave sins without making a vow or taking an oath. Yes.
May Allah reward you. The questioner says: I am a man who was afflicted with a sin, so I vowed that every time I fall into it, I would give a known amount of money in charity. I did this for a while, but then the vow became difficult for me until the amount owed from the vow became a sum I cannot currently pay. What is obligatory for me?
Answer:
This vow is like an oath. You must pay the expiation for an oath: feeding ten poor people, or clothing them, or freeing a slave. If you cannot find the means, you fast for three days. This vow is like an oath because your intention with it was to prevent yourself from sin. So you pay the expiation for an oath and repent to Allah the Exalted with a sincere repentance, leaving the sin. You do not need a vow. Repent to Allah and resolve to leave sins without making a vow or taking an oath. Yes.
Source
قناة «العلامة الدكتور صالح الفوزان»، ما حكم من شق عليه الوفاء بالنذر؟ للشيخ الفوزان — youtube.com
The Arabic text is a machine transcription of the audio recording.