Chapter on the Prohibition of Swearing by a Created Being, Such as the Prophet, the Ka'bah, the Angels, the Sky, Fathers, Life, the Soul, the Head, the Life of the Ruler, and the Blessing of the Ruler
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The reader: In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful.
Praise be to Allah, Lord of the worlds, and blessings and peace be upon our Prophet Muhammad, and upon his family and all his Companions.
He said, may Allah have mercy on him: "Chapter on the Prohibition of Swearing by a Created Being. It was narrated from Ibn 'Umar (may Allah be pleased with both of them) from the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) who saidRiyad as-Salihin 1707 Agreed upon by al-Bukhari and Muslim
And in a narration in the Sahih:Riyad as-Salihin 1707
And it was narrated from 'Abd al-Rahman ibn Samurah (may Allah be pleased with him) who said: The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said:Sunan Ibn Majah 2095Sahih (Darussalam) Narrated by Muslim
And it was narrated from Buraydah (may Allah be pleased with him) that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said:Sunan Abi Dawud 3253Sahih (Al-Albani) This is an authentic hadith, narrated by Abu Dawud with a sound chain
And from him (may Allah be pleased with him) it was said: The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said:Sunan Abi Dawud 3258Sahih (Al-Albani) Narrated by Abu Dawud
And it was narrated from Ibn 'Umar (may Allah be pleased with both of them):Riyad as-Salihin 1711 Narrated by al-Tirmidhi, who said: This is a good hadith. "
The Shaykh : In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful.
The author said, may Allah have mercy on him: "Chapter on the Prohibition of Swearing" Swearing means affirming a thing by mentioning something esteemed... a person by something, except that it is great in itself, so it is as if he is saying: By the greatness of this thing by which he swears, I am truthful. And for this reason, swearing by Allah, Mighty and Majestic, is done by saying "I swear by Allah" or by one of His attributes or by any of His names. Allah the Exalted said:[Al-A'raf 7:180] And He said: [Al-Isra 17:110] So if you swear by Allah, or by the Most Merciful, or by the Most Compassionate, or by the Mighty, or by the Wise, or by the All-Hearing, or by the All-Seeing, or by any of the names of Allah, this is permissible. The particles of swearing are three: the waw, the ba, and the ta. The waw is like "By Allah, I will certainly do such-and-such." The ba is like "By Allah, I will certainly do such-and-such." And the ta is like "By Allah, I will certainly do such-and-such." Allah the Exalted said: [Al-An'am 6:109] [At-Tawbah 9:62] And He said: [As-Saffat 37:56] And He said: [An-Nisa 4:65] These are the particles of swearing.
And swearing by other than Allah is disbelief or associating partners with Allah. It may be major disbelief or minor disbelief. Likewise, it may be major shirk or minor shirk. If the one swearing believes that a thing has a share of the greatness that belongs to Allah, then this is major shirk. And if he believes that it has greatness less than the greatness of Allah, then it is minor shirk, because it is a means to the major.
And in the pre-Islamic age of ignorance, they were accustomed to swear by their fathers, so the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) forbade that and said: meaning, and do not swear by your brothers, or your grandfathers, or your chiefs. But the fathers were specifically mentioned because that was the custom among them. Sahih al-Bukhari 2679 meaning, either he swears by Allah or he does not swear. As for swearing by other than Allah, that is not allowed.
And among that is swearing by the Prophet. Swearing by the Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him), the noblest of humans and the master of humans. If I said "By the Prophet Muhammad," I would be an associate of partners with Allah or a disbeliever.
Swearing by Jibril. If I said "By Jibril, and Mikail, and Israfil, and Malik, the keeper of the Fire," or others like them, this is shirk. If I said "By the sun, and the moon, and the night, and the day," and swore by them, this is shirk, either minor or major, according to what we have categorized.
And one also swears by an attribute of the attributes of Allah, like "By the might of Allah, I will certainly do it," or "By the wisdom of Allah, I will certainly do such-and-such." There is no harm in that. As for swearing by other than Allah, it is as we said: disbelief or shirk, either major or minor.
Then the author mentioned the hadith that and that it is not permissible for a person to say this. And that if he says this, if he is a liar, then he is as he said, meaning he is free from Islam, may Allah protect us from that. And if he is truthful, he will not return to Islam safely, meaning he must either commit a sin or become a disbeliever.
And similar to that is the saying of the one who says: "He is a Jew if such-and-such happens," or "He is a Christian if such-and-such happens." It is said to him: That is forbidden for you, because if you are a liar, then you are as you said, a Jew or a Christian. And if you are truthful, you will not return to Islam safely.
An example of that: A man said, "So-and-so arrived today and came today," and he was a traveler. His companion said, "No, he did not arrive." The first man said, "He is a Jew if he did not arrive." If he is a liar and he did not arrive, meaning he is a liar, then he becomes free from Islam and becomes a Jew, because he said, "He is a Jew if he did not arrive," and he is a liar, so by that he becomes a Jew. And if he is truthful that he arrived, then he will not return to Islam safely, as the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) said. The important thing is that if you want to swear, swear by Allah by any of His names or by any of His attributes, and do not swear by anything else.
Someone might say: Did not Allah the Exalted swear by created things? He said: And He said: [Ash-Shams 91:4] And He said: We say: Allah the Exalted has the right to swear by whatever He wills of His creation. And when He, Glorified and Exalted is He, swears by something, that is evidence of the greatness of Allah, because the greatness of the created thing indicates the greatness of whom? The Creator. Allah does not swear by anything except something great, and the greatness of the created thing is from the greatness of the Creator.
Praise be to Allah, Lord of the worlds, and blessings and peace be upon our Prophet Muhammad, and upon his family and all his Companions.
He said, may Allah have mercy on him: "Chapter on the Prohibition of Swearing by a Created Being. It was narrated from Ibn 'Umar (may Allah be pleased with both of them) from the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) who said
Allah has prohibited you from taking an oath by your fathers. He who must take an oath, may do so by swearing in the Name of Allah or he should remain silent.
إن الله تعالى ينهاكم أن تحلفوا بآبائكم فمن كان حالفا فليحلف بالله أو ليصمتAnd in a narration in the Sahih:
He who must take an oath, may do so by swearing in the Name of Allah or he should remain silent.
ومن كان حالفا فلا يحلف إلا بالله او ليسكتAnd it was narrated from 'Abd al-Rahman ibn Samurah (may Allah be pleased with him) who said: The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said:
Do not take oaths by idols nor by your forefathers.
لا تحلفوا بالطواغي ولا بآبائكمAnd it was narrated from Buraydah (may Allah be pleased with him) that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said:
He who swears by Amanah (faithfulness) is not one of us.
من حلف بالأمانة فليس مناAnd from him (may Allah be pleased with him) it was said: The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said:
If anyone takes an oath and says: I am free from Islam; now if he is a liar (in his oath), he will not return to Islam with soundness.
من حلف فقال إني بريء من الإسلام فإن كان كاذبا فهو كما قال وإن كان صادقا فلن يرجع إلى الإسلام سالماAnd it was narrated from Ibn 'Umar (may Allah be pleased with both of them):
I heard a man saying: "No, by the Ka'bah." I admonished him: "Do not swear by any thing besides Allah, for I heard the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) saying, 'He who swears by anyone or anything other than Allah, has indeed committed an act of Kufr or Shirk'."
أنه سمع رجلا يقول لا والكعبة فقال ابن عمر لا تحلف بغير الله فإني سمعت رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم يقول من حلف بغير الله فقد كفر أو أشركThe Shaykh : In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful.
The author said, may Allah have mercy on him: "Chapter on the Prohibition of Swearing" Swearing means affirming a thing by mentioning something esteemed... a person by something, except that it is great in itself, so it is as if he is saying: By the greatness of this thing by which he swears, I am truthful. And for this reason, swearing by Allah, Mighty and Majestic, is done by saying "I swear by Allah" or by one of His attributes or by any of His names. Allah the Exalted said:
And to Allah belong the best names, so invoke Him by them
ولله الأسماء الحسنى فادعوه بهاWhichever [name] you call - to Him belong the best names.
أيا ما تدعوا فله الأسماء الحسنىAnd they swear by Allah their strongest oaths
وأقسموا بالله جهد أيمانهمThey swear by Allah to you [Muslims] to satisfy you
يحلفون بالله لكم ليرضوكمBy Allah, you almost ruined me.
تا الله إن كدت لتردينBut no, by your Lord, they will not [truly] believe
فلا وربك لا يؤمنونAnd swearing by other than Allah is disbelief or associating partners with Allah. It may be major disbelief or minor disbelief. Likewise, it may be major shirk or minor shirk. If the one swearing believes that a thing has a share of the greatness that belongs to Allah, then this is major shirk. And if he believes that it has greatness less than the greatness of Allah, then it is minor shirk, because it is a means to the major.
And in the pre-Islamic age of ignorance, they were accustomed to swear by their fathers, so the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) forbade that and said:
Do not swear by your fathers
لا تحلفوا بآبائكمWhoever has to take an oath should swear by Allah or remain silent.
من كان حالفا فليحلف بالله أو ليصمتAnd among that is swearing by the Prophet. Swearing by the Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him), the noblest of humans and the master of humans. If I said "By the Prophet Muhammad," I would be an associate of partners with Allah or a disbeliever.
Swearing by Jibril. If I said "By Jibril, and Mikail, and Israfil, and Malik, the keeper of the Fire," or others like them, this is shirk. If I said "By the sun, and the moon, and the night, and the day," and swore by them, this is shirk, either minor or major, according to what we have categorized.
And one also swears by an attribute of the attributes of Allah, like "By the might of Allah, I will certainly do it," or "By the wisdom of Allah, I will certainly do such-and-such." There is no harm in that. As for swearing by other than Allah, it is as we said: disbelief or shirk, either major or minor.
Then the author mentioned the hadith that
Whoever says, "I am disavowed from the religion of Islam," if it is so
من قال هو بريء من دين الإسلام إن كان كذاAnd similar to that is the saying of the one who says: "He is a Jew if such-and-such happens," or "He is a Christian if such-and-such happens." It is said to him: That is forbidden for you, because if you are a liar, then you are as you said, a Jew or a Christian. And if you are truthful, you will not return to Islam safely.
An example of that: A man said, "So-and-so arrived today and came today," and he was a traveler. His companion said, "No, he did not arrive." The first man said, "He is a Jew if he did not arrive." If he is a liar and he did not arrive, meaning he is a liar, then he becomes free from Islam and becomes a Jew, because he said, "He is a Jew if he did not arrive," and he is a liar, so by that he becomes a Jew. And if he is truthful that he arrived, then he will not return to Islam safely, as the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) said. The important thing is that if you want to swear, swear by Allah by any of His names or by any of His attributes, and do not swear by anything else.
Someone might say: Did not Allah the Exalted swear by created things? He said: