The Shaykh al-Shatibi (may Allah have mercy on him) said: “The consensus of the Muslims is that one who vows to leave off a permissible act is not obligated to fulfill it by leaving off that permissible act.” I hope for clarification.

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The questioner : His EminenceThe Shaykh : The Shaykh al-Shatibi (may Allah have mercy on him) said: “The consensus of the Muslims is that one who vows to leave off a permissible act is not obligated to fulfill it by leaving off that permissible act”. How is this clarified?

The Shaykh : That is, if he says: “I have a vow upon me for Allah that I will not wear this garment,” then this vow is not obligatory upon him. That is, he may wear it and expiate with the expiation for an oath. Likewise, for every permissible act that he vows to leave off, he has the choice: if he wishes, he may do it, and if he wishes, he may expiate with the expiation for an oath and not do it.

The questioner : And if he vows in obedience?

The Shaykh : If he vows in obedience, he must perform the act of obedience, based on the saying of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him):

Whoever vows that he will be obedient to Allah, should remain obedient to Him

من نذر أن يطيع الله فليطعه

Sahih al-Bukhari 6696

. If he does not obey Him, let him prepare for hypocrisy that will remain in his heart until he dies, based on 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

[At-Tawbah 9:75-77]

. For example, if he says: “If Allah heals my sick person, I have a vow upon me for Allah 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 prepare for hypocrisy that will remain in his heart until he dies. Likewise, if he says: “If Allah heals my sick person, I have a vow upon me for Allah to give charity of one hundred riyals,” and Allah heals his sick person and he does not give charity, let him prepare for 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) to do so. And if it is conditional, one fears for the one who violates it this great hypocrisy, and refuge is sought in Allah.

Source alathar.net

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

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