The Meaning of al-Shatibi's Statement: (The one who vows to leave off a permissible act is not obligated to fulfill it)

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[The Meaning of al-Shatibi's Statement: (The one who vows to leave off a permissible act is not obligated to fulfill it)]

Your Eminence! Al-Shatibi (may Allah have mercy on him) said: The consensus of the Muslims is that the one who vows to leave off a permissible act is not obligated to fulfill it by leaving off that permissible act. What does this mean?

Meaning, if he says: If I say, "I have a vow upon me not to wear this garment," then he is not obligated to keep this vow.Meaning: He may wear it and expiate for an oath. This is permissible; if you vow it, you have the choice: if you wish, you may do it, and if you wish, you may expiate for an oath and not do it. And if one vows in obedience, he must perform the obedience, due to the saying of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him): (Whoever vows to obey Allah, let him obey Him) If he does not obey Him, let him beware of hypocrisy remaining in his heart until he dies, due to the saying of Allah (Blessed and Exalted is He):

⁽⁷⁵⁾ And among them are those who made a covenant with Allah, [saying], "If He should give us from His bounty, we will surely spend in charity, and we will surely be among the righteous." ⁽⁷⁶⁾ But when he gave them from His bounty, they were stingy with it and turned away while they refused. ⁽⁷⁷⁾ So He penalized them with hypocrisy in their hearts until the Day they will meet Him - because they failed Allah in what they promised Him and because they [habitually] used to lie.

وَمِنْهُمْ مَنْ عَاهَدَ اللَّهَ لَئِنْ آتَانَا مِنْ فَضْلِهِ لَنَصَّدَّقَنَّ وَلَنَكُونَنَّ مِنَ الصَّالِحِينَ * فَلَمَّا آتَاهُمْ مِنْ فَضْلِهِ بَخِلُوا بِهِ وَتَوَلَّوْا وَهُمْ مُعْرِضُونَ * فَأَعْقَبَهُمْ نِفَاقاً فِي قُلُوبِهِمْ إِلَى يَوْمِ يَلْقَوْنَهُ بِمَا أَخْلَفُوا اللَّهَ مَا وَعَدُوهُ وَبِمَا كَانُوا يَكَذِبُونَ

[Al-Tawbah: 75-77] For example, if he says, "If Allah heals my sick person, I have a vow upon me to fast every Monday and Thursday," and Allah heals his sick person, it is obligatory for him to fast every Monday and Thursday. If he does not do so, let him beware of hypocrisy remaining in his heart until he dies.And likewise, if he says: If he says, "If Allah heals my sick person, I have a vow upon me to give charity of one hundred riyals," and Allah heals his sick person and he does not give charity, let him beware of this hypocrisy. The important point is that a vow of obedience must be fulfilled due to the command of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) regarding this. And if it is conditional, one fears for the one who violates it this great hypocrisy, and I seek refuge in Allah.

Source shamela.ws

The Arabic text is copied verbatim from the original source, without any edits.

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