She says: I suffered from an eye disease for three years and went to the doctor, but to no avail, so I vowed to fast one day of every month if I were healed.
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The questioner : She says: I suffered from an eye disease for three years and went to the doctor, but to no avail, so I vowed to fast one day of every month if my eye were healed. After a period, my eye improved, and I fasted two days from two months, but...
The Shaykh : Repeat the question?
The questioner : Yes. The question is from the questioner H B H from Hail. She says: I suffered from an eye disease for three years and went to the doctor, but to no avail, so I vowed to fast one day of every month if my eye were healed. After a period, my eye improved, and I fasted two days from two months, but then the disease returned. Should I fast or not? Please advise us, may Allah reward you with good.
The Shaykh : Before answering this question, I would like to say to the questioner and to whoever hears this that making a vow is disliked or forbidden, because the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) and his family forbade it and said:Sunan an-Nasa'i 3801Sahih (Darussalam) Since he forbade it and explained that it does not bring good, it is more fitting for a person not to make a vow. A vow does not avert divine decree nor bring about divine decree. In a vow, there is only falling into what the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him and his family) forbade, and falling into hardship for the person, because he obligates himself with what Allah has not obligated him to. How many people have made a vow and then regretted it, going to knock on the doors of scholars hoping to find a way out of what they vowed, but they find no way out. At that point, they remain between carrying out their vow with difficulty, even if it is psychological difficulty, or leaving their vow. And if they leave their vow, they are in great danger of the punishment that Allah the Exalted mentioned regarding those who break their promise: [At-Tawbah 9:75-77] So a vow is dangerous, and its consequence may be bad, indeed it is bad if the servant does not fulfill it.
So my advice to this woman and to my Muslim brothers who hear this is not to put themselves in this predicament by obligating themselves with what Allah the Mighty and Majestic has not obligated them to, and putting themselves into what the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) forbade. If a person insists on making a vow, and the vow is a vow of obedience, it is obligatory for him to fulfill it, based on the saying of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him and his family):Sunan Ibn Majah 2126Sahih (Darussalam).
This woman who vowed that if Allah healed her eye from the disease, she would fast one day of every month, and Allah healed her: if the healing was complete, it is obligatory for her to fulfill her vow and fast one day of every month, whether at the beginning, middle, or end of the month, as long as she did not specify a time. If the healing was not complete but the disease was alleviated for her, it is not obligatory for her to fulfill the vow because the condition was not met, and if the condition is not met, the conditioned thing is not met.
What appears to me from her question is that she was not completely healed, and therefore she is not obligated to fast what she vowed, because she was not healed from the disease for which she made the vow. Unless it was her intention when making the vow that if Allah healed her, even if the healing was not complete, then she is obligated to fast one day of every month, even if the disease returns to her. In that case, she fulfills her vow, and perhaps her fulfillment of her vow will be a cause of her healing, by the permission of Allah. Yes.
The questioner : May Allah bless you. The questioner from Hail, H B H, says.
The Shaykh : Repeat the question?
The questioner : Yes. The question is from the questioner H B H from Hail. She says: I suffered from an eye disease for three years and went to the doctor, but to no avail, so I vowed to fast one day of every month if my eye were healed. After a period, my eye improved, and I fasted two days from two months, but then the disease returned. Should I fast or not? Please advise us, may Allah reward you with good.
The Shaykh : Before answering this question, I would like to say to the questioner and to whoever hears this that making a vow is disliked or forbidden, because the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) and his family forbade it and said:
They do not bring any good
إنه لا يأتي بخير(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 ءاتَانَا مِنْ فَضْلِهِ لَنَصَّدَّقَنَّ وَلَنَكُونَنَّ مِنَ الصَّالِحِينَ * فَلَمَّا ءاتَاهُمْ مِنْ فَضْلِهِ بَخِلُوا بِهِ وَتَوَلَّوا وَهُمْ مُعْرِضُونَ * فَأَعْقَبَهُمْ نِفَاقًا فِي قُلُوبِهِمْ إِلَى يَوْمِ يَلْقَوْنَهُ بِمَا أَخْلَفُوا اللَّهَ مَا وَعَدُوهُ وَبِمَا كَانُوا يَكْذِبُونَSo my advice to this woman and to my Muslim brothers who hear this is not to put themselves in this predicament by obligating themselves with what Allah the Mighty and Majestic has not obligated them to, and putting themselves into what the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) forbade. If a person insists on making a vow, and the vow is a vow of obedience, it is obligatory for him to fulfill it, based on the saying of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him and his family):
Whoever vows to obey Allah, let him obey Him, and whoever vows to disobey Allah, let him not disobey Him.
من نذر أن يُطيع الله فليطعه، ومن نذر أن يعصي الله فلا يعصهThis woman who vowed that if Allah healed her eye from the disease, she would fast one day of every month, and Allah healed her: if the healing was complete, it is obligatory for her to fulfill her vow and fast one day of every month, whether at the beginning, middle, or end of the month, as long as she did not specify a time. If the healing was not complete but the disease was alleviated for her, it is not obligatory for her to fulfill the vow because the condition was not met, and if the condition is not met, the conditioned thing is not met.
What appears to me from her question is that she was not completely healed, and therefore she is not obligated to fast what she vowed, because she was not healed from the disease for which she made the vow. Unless it was her intention when making the vow that if Allah healed her, even if the healing was not complete, then she is obligated to fast one day of every month, even if the disease returns to her. In that case, she fulfills her vow, and perhaps her fulfillment of her vow will be a cause of her healing, by the permission of Allah. Yes.
The questioner : May Allah bless you. The questioner from Hail, H B H, says.