The ruling on trading with money vowed to Allah the Exalted
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Your Eminence! A person vowed the value of a plot of land to Allah, the Sublime and Exalted. The Shaykh: The value or the land?The questioner: The value of the land.
The Shaykh: Yes.
The questioner: He sold the land and obtained the value, then at the same time he vowed that if he profited in trade, he would spend a portion of it in the cause of Allah. This happened to him, so he combined the two amounts. Is it permissible for him to trade with it for the sake of Allah, the Sublime and Exalted, or must he spend the entire amount?
It is obligatory for one who has vowed something to hasten to fulfill it and not delay. If he vowed that the value of this land be for a mosque, for example, or for charitable works, he must sell it immediately, even if it is worth only (10%) of its value, and then give it in charity, spending it on the mosque or other specific designated purposes.And as for his saying: If he says, "I will trade with it so that it may increase," this is forbidden for him; because he has vowed it to Allah, and because he cannot be safe from the possibility that he may trade and lose. He also cannot be safe from his stingy self saying, when the profit is realized: "Half of it is mine, or all of it is mine." Furthermore, he cannot be safe from death; he may die and the heirs may take over and not spend it. Therefore, it is obligatory that when a person vows to give charity or spend the value of this land on a mosque or a good deed, he should hasten to sell it and spend it on good deeds.
The Shaykh: Yes.
The questioner: He sold the land and obtained the value, then at the same time he vowed that if he profited in trade, he would spend a portion of it in the cause of Allah. This happened to him, so he combined the two amounts. Is it permissible for him to trade with it for the sake of Allah, the Sublime and Exalted, or must he spend the entire amount?
It is obligatory for one who has vowed something to hasten to fulfill it and not delay. If he vowed that the value of this land be for a mosque, for example, or for charitable works, he must sell it immediately, even if it is worth only (10%) of its value, and then give it in charity, spending it on the mosque or other specific designated purposes.And as for his saying: If he says, "I will trade with it so that it may increase," this is forbidden for him; because he has vowed it to Allah, and because he cannot be safe from the possibility that he may trade and lose. He also cannot be safe from his stingy self saying, when the profit is realized: "Half of it is mine, or all of it is mine." Furthermore, he cannot be safe from death; he may die and the heirs may take over and not spend it. Therefore, it is obligatory that when a person vows to give charity or spend the value of this land on a mosque or a good deed, he should hasten to sell it and spend it on good deeds.