Is it permissible to swear by the Qur'an? And is it permissible to swear by the mushaf?
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The Shaykh : Is it permissible to swear by the mushaf?
There is a subtle difference here. Praying toward the mushaf involves directing oneself toward a created thing, which is the paper and the words of Allah (Mighty and Majestic) contained within it. We said that there is no harm in that, because whether you direct yourself toward this chair, or this wooden shelf, or this paper... which is not printed and does not contain the words of Allah... we said that it is permissible. But when you swear by the mushaf, your oath by the mushaf is not the same as your oath by the words of Allah. Because your oath by the words of Allah is an oath by an attribute of Allah, whereas if you swear by the mushaf, you have sworn by an attribute of Allah and by a creation of Allah, namely the paper cover... for example, this book is a created thing. So it is not permissible to swear by this book because it is created. But when you swear by the mushaf, you have sworn by the words of Allah on one hand, and by this container surrounding the words of Allah on the other; this is not permissible. Therefore, it is a grave error on the part of some... what do we call them? The Shari'ah courts, which they call... they place the mushaf and say to the litigant or the one being judged... put your hand on the mushaf and swear. This is an error.
The questioner : ... .
The Shaykh : Yes, may Allah preserve you [The Shaykh laughs!].
The questioner : I mean, put your hand on it and swear.
The Shaykh : Glory be to Allah! This is very well known. This is an error. It is obligatory that the Muslim be made to swear only by the words of Allah (Mighty and Majestic). If the judge were to say to him, for example, "Swear by the words of Allah found in this mushaf," there is nothing wrong with that. But to put your hand on the mushaf and swear; this is ignorance, and a terrible negligence, in that they do not distinguish between the Creator and the created; that is, between the attribute of the Creator and this created thing. These are subtleties that we must be mindful of.
The questioner : Shaykh, by the wording of the Qur'an, my Shaykh...
The Shaykh : Okay.
The questioner : That is fine... by the wording of the mushaf...
The Shaykh : No, that is the issue.
The questioner : May Allah reward you with good.
There is a subtle difference here. Praying toward the mushaf involves directing oneself toward a created thing, which is the paper and the words of Allah (Mighty and Majestic) contained within it. We said that there is no harm in that, because whether you direct yourself toward this chair, or this wooden shelf, or this paper... which is not printed and does not contain the words of Allah... we said that it is permissible. But when you swear by the mushaf, your oath by the mushaf is not the same as your oath by the words of Allah. Because your oath by the words of Allah is an oath by an attribute of Allah, whereas if you swear by the mushaf, you have sworn by an attribute of Allah and by a creation of Allah, namely the paper cover... for example, this book is a created thing. So it is not permissible to swear by this book because it is created. But when you swear by the mushaf, you have sworn by the words of Allah on one hand, and by this container surrounding the words of Allah on the other; this is not permissible. Therefore, it is a grave error on the part of some... what do we call them? The Shari'ah courts, which they call... they place the mushaf and say to the litigant or the one being judged... put your hand on the mushaf and swear. This is an error.
The questioner : ... .
The Shaykh : Yes, may Allah preserve you [The Shaykh laughs!].
The questioner : I mean, put your hand on it and swear.
The Shaykh : Glory be to Allah! This is very well known. This is an error. It is obligatory that the Muslim be made to swear only by the words of Allah (Mighty and Majestic). If the judge were to say to him, for example, "Swear by the words of Allah found in this mushaf," there is nothing wrong with that. But to put your hand on the mushaf and swear; this is ignorance, and a terrible negligence, in that they do not distinguish between the Creator and the created; that is, between the attribute of the Creator and this created thing. These are subtleties that we must be mindful of.
The questioner : Shaykh, by the wording of the Qur'an, my Shaykh...
The Shaykh : Okay.
The questioner : That is fine... by the wording of the mushaf...
The Shaykh : No, that is the issue.
The questioner : May Allah reward you with good.
Source
www.al-albany.com
The Arabic text is copied verbatim from the original source, without any edits.