His second question says: I used to believe that vows are a matter far removed from the religion, or that they are among the innovations. What is their origin, and what is the position of Islamic legislation regarding them?
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The questioner : His second question says: I used to believe that vows are a matter far removed from the religion, or that they are among the innovations. What is their origin, and what is the position of Islamic legislation regarding them, or how is it obligatory for a Muslim to fulfill them?
The Shaykh : I do not know what he means by vows, so I fear that he means vows made for the dead. If he means that, then vows for the dead are major shirk (associating partners with Allah), because the vow is exclusively for Allah (Mighty and Majestic). If someone says to the owner of this grave, "I have a vow to slaughter for him," or "I have a vow to pray for him," or the like of acts of worship that are vowed for the owners of graves, then this is, without doubt, shirk that takes one out of the religion. But if he means by the vow a vow to Allah (Mighty and Majestic), then there is much detail in this. If the vow is a vow of obedience, he must fulfill it, whether the vow is absolute or conditional. If someone says, for example, "I have a vow to Allah to fast tomorrow," he must fast. "I have a vow to Allah to pray two rak'ahs," he must pray two rak'ahs. "I have a vow to Allah to perform Hajj," he must perform Hajj. "I have a vow to Allah to perform 'Umrah," he must perform 'Umrah. "I have a vow to Allah to pray in the Prophet's Mosque," he must pray in the Prophet's Mosque. However, if he vows something, he may switch to something better than it. If he vows to pray in the Prophet's Mosque, he may pray in the Sacred Mosque instead, because it is established that a man said to the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) on the day of the Conquest: "O Messenger of Allah! I vowed that if Allah opens up Makkah for you, I would pray in the Sanctuary of Jerusalem". The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: The man repeated it to him twice, and the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said to him: This is evidence that if one vows something and does something better of the same kind, it is permissible and he has fulfilled his vow.
This is regarding the vow of obedience, whether it is absolute as we exemplified, or conditional as in this hadith.
The questioner : Yes.
The Shaykh :"If Allah opens up Makkah for you, I would pray in the Sanctuary of Jerusalem".
And like conditional vows is what many people do. They have a sick person, and they say, "If Allah heals this sick person, I have a vow to Allah to do such and such from matters of good." He must, when this sick person is healed, fulfill what he vowed of obedience to Allah.
And like this is what some students do. They say, "If I succeed, I have a vow to Allah to do such and such from matters of obedience. I have a vow to Allah to fast three days, or ten days, or Monday and Thursday of this month, or the like." All of this must be fulfilled due to the generality of the saying of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him):Sahih al-Bukhari 6696.
And with this, I advise our Muslim brothers; I advise them not to make vows upon themselves, because the least state of a vow is that it is disliked. In fact, some scholars have forbidden it, because the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) prohibited it and said:Sahih Muslim 1639c.
The questioner : Yes.
The Shaykh : And because the one who makes a vow obligates himself to a matter from which he is in safety, and because the one who makes a vow may delay and be lax in fulfilling the vow, and this is a serious matter. Listen to the saying of Allah the Exalted:[At-Tawbah 9:75-77] If a person is lax in what he vowed to Allah on a condition, he is likely to be punished with this great punishment. Allah will follow it with hypocrisy in his heart until he dies. We ask Allah for safety and well-being.
The questioner : We seek refuge in Allah.
The Shaykh : Then, the vow in this case is as if the one who makes the vow is saying that Allah will not give me what I want unless I condition it for Him. This is, in reality, a bad opinion of Allah (Mighty and Majestic). Allah (Blessed and Exalted is He) bestows upon His servants without them conditioning anything for Him. So if something disliked happens to you, or you desire something, ask Allah and supplicate to Him. This is the way of the messengers, as Allah the Exalted said about them, regarding those who were afflicted with calamity, that they whisper to Allah (Mighty and Majestic) and supplicate to Him, and He responds to them:[Al-Anbya 21:83-84] Did Ayyub make a vow to Allah that if He cured him, he would do something? No, rather he supplicated to his Lord.
The questioner : Yes.
The Shaykh : And likewise is the Sunnah of the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) and his Rightly Guided Successors. When they desired from Allah what they wanted, they turned to Him with desire and supplication that He would give it to them. And when they desired from Allah (Exalted and Majestic) that He avert from them what they disliked, they supplicated to Him (Exalted and Majestic) and took refuge in Him that He would avert from them what they disliked. This is the path of the messengers, the first and the last.
The questioner : Yes.
The Shaykh : The last of them is Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him). So how does a person deviate from their path? The important thing is that we advise our brothers against this matter. And people often ask those who have made vows upon themselves; they ask seeking to find someone from the people of knowledge who will free them from them, but they do not find anyone to free them.
The questioner : Yes.
The Shaykh : Yes.
The questioner : This is a message we received from the sender Ahmad Musa al-Qarni.
The Shaykh : I do not know what he means by vows, so I fear that he means vows made for the dead. If he means that, then vows for the dead are major shirk (associating partners with Allah), because the vow is exclusively for Allah (Mighty and Majestic). If someone says to the owner of this grave, "I have a vow to slaughter for him," or "I have a vow to pray for him," or the like of acts of worship that are vowed for the owners of graves, then this is, without doubt, shirk that takes one out of the religion. But if he means by the vow a vow to Allah (Mighty and Majestic), then there is much detail in this. If the vow is a vow of obedience, he must fulfill it, whether the vow is absolute or conditional. If someone says, for example, "I have a vow to Allah to fast tomorrow," he must fast. "I have a vow to Allah to pray two rak'ahs," he must pray two rak'ahs. "I have a vow to Allah to perform Hajj," he must perform Hajj. "I have a vow to Allah to perform 'Umrah," he must perform 'Umrah. "I have a vow to Allah to pray in the Prophet's Mosque," he must pray in the Prophet's Mosque. However, if he vows something, he may switch to something better than it. If he vows to pray in the Prophet's Mosque, he may pray in the Sacred Mosque instead, because it is established that a man said to the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) on the day of the Conquest: "O Messenger of Allah! I vowed that if Allah opens up Makkah for you, I would pray in the Sanctuary of Jerusalem". The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said:
Pray here.
صل ها هناThen do as you wish
شأنك إذنThis is regarding the vow of obedience, whether it is absolute as we exemplified, or conditional as in this hadith.
The questioner : Yes.
The Shaykh :"If Allah opens up Makkah for you, I would pray in the Sanctuary of Jerusalem".
And like conditional vows is what many people do. They have a sick person, and they say, "If Allah heals this sick person, I have a vow to Allah to do such and such from matters of good." He must, when this sick person is healed, fulfill what he vowed of obedience to Allah.
And like this is what some students do. They say, "If I succeed, I have a vow to Allah to do such and such from matters of obedience. I have a vow to Allah to fast three days, or ten days, or Monday and Thursday of this month, or the like." All of this must be fulfilled due to the generality of the saying of the Messenger of Allah (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 فليطعهAnd with this, I advise our Muslim brothers; I advise them not to make vows upon themselves, because the least state of a vow is that it is disliked. In fact, some scholars have forbidden it, because the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) prohibited it and said:
It does not (necessarily) bring good (in the form of substantial, and tangible results), but it is the meant whereby something is extracted from the miserly persons.
إن النذر لا يأتي بخير، وإنما يُستخرج به من البخيلThe questioner : Yes.
The Shaykh : And because the one who makes a vow obligates himself to a matter from which he is in safety, and because the one who makes a vow may delay and be lax in fulfilling the vow, and this is a serious matter. Listen to the saying of Allah the Exalted:
(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 يَكْذِبُونَThe questioner : We seek refuge in Allah.
The Shaykh : Then, the vow in this case is as if the one who makes the vow is saying that Allah will not give me what I want unless I condition it for Him. This is, in reality, a bad opinion of Allah (Mighty and Majestic). Allah (Blessed and Exalted is He) bestows upon His servants without them conditioning anything for Him. So if something disliked happens to you, or you desire something, ask Allah and supplicate to Him. This is the way of the messengers, as Allah the Exalted said about them, regarding those who were afflicted with calamity, that they whisper to Allah (Mighty and Majestic) and supplicate to Him, and He responds to them:
(83) And [mention] Job, when he called to his Lord, "Indeed, adversity has touched me, and you are the Most Merciful of the merciful." (84) So We responded to him and removed what afflicted him of adversity. And We gave him [back] his family and the like thereof with them as mercy from Us and a reminder for the worshippers [of Allah].
وَأَيُّوبَ إِذْ نَادَى رَبَّهُ أَنِّي مَسَّنِيَ الضُّرُّ وَأَنْتَ أَرْحَمُ الرَّاحِمِينَ * فَاسْتَجَبْنَا لَهُ فَكَشَفْنَا مَا بِهِ مِنْ ضُرٍّThe questioner : Yes.
The Shaykh : And likewise is the Sunnah of the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) and his Rightly Guided Successors. When they desired from Allah what they wanted, they turned to Him with desire and supplication that He would give it to them. And when they desired from Allah (Exalted and Majestic) that He avert from them what they disliked, they supplicated to Him (Exalted and Majestic) and took refuge in Him that He would avert from them what they disliked. This is the path of the messengers, the first and the last.
The questioner : Yes.
The Shaykh : The last of them is Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him). So how does a person deviate from their path? The important thing is that we advise our brothers against this matter. And people often ask those who have made vows upon themselves; they ask seeking to find someone from the people of knowledge who will free them from them, but they do not find anyone to free them.
The questioner : Yes.
The Shaykh : Yes.
The questioner : This is a message we received from the sender Ahmad Musa al-Qarni.