The Form of a Vow and Whether a Specific Wording Is Required
Machine translationRead the Arabic original
The questioner:
Is it necessary for a vow to be valid if made in the form of "I vow to do such and such," or is the specific wording not a condition?
The Shaykh:
Yes.
The questioner:
Is it necessary for a vow to be valid if made in the form of "I vow to do such and such," or is the specific wording not a condition?
The Shaykh:
There is no specific wording required. One may say "I vow to do such and such," or "I owe Allah such and such," or "If such and such happens, I will do such and such, I will pray such and such, or I will give such and such in charity." This is the vow. A vow is the act of binding oneself. If one binds oneself to an act of obedience, it becomes obligatory upon him. The vow is the act of binding oneself. If one binds himself to an act of obedience that is not obligatory in the original Shari'ah, then this is the vow. Yes. As for the fact that any wording that achieves the binding also achieves the vow. Yes.
Is it necessary for a vow to be valid if made in the form of "I vow to do such and such," or is the specific wording not a condition?
The Shaykh:
Yes.
The questioner:
Is it necessary for a vow to be valid if made in the form of "I vow to do such and such," or is the specific wording not a condition?
The Shaykh:
There is no specific wording required. One may say "I vow to do such and such," or "I owe Allah such and such," or "If such and such happens, I will do such and such, I will pray such and such, or I will give such and such in charity." This is the vow. A vow is the act of binding oneself. If one binds oneself to an act of obedience, it becomes obligatory upon him. The vow is the act of binding oneself. If one binds himself to an act of obedience that is not obligatory in the original Shari'ah, then this is the vow. Yes. As for the fact that any wording that achieves the binding also achieves the vow. Yes.
Source
شرح بلوغ المرام من أدلة الأحكام [ صالح الفوزان ]، كتاب الطلاق — islamhouse.com (1:03:58)
The Arabic text is a machine transcription of the audio recording.