The Expiation of a Vow and Its Ruling When Conditioned on Allah’s Will

A message was received for the program from Karar Nafi' Mustafa. He says in his message—and it is long: “Allah has blessed me with three children, and I made a covenant with myself and said: If Allah blesses me with a boy next time—if Allah wills—I will have his education be at Al-Azhar Al-Sharif, from the primary stage until the end of his education, hoping that he will become a memorizer of the Noble Qur'an, and of fiqh and the Sunnah. I also wished for him to be a religious preacher. Allah blessed me with this boy and answered my prayer. The boy grew up and reached the age of five, so I wanted to fulfill my covenant. But a problem occurred: I live on the western side of the Nile River, and the religious institute is on the eastern side, with this Nile between us. We did not have trains or cars, but on the side where the institute is located, there are trains and cars passing by. I feared for my son drowning in the Nile or danger from the trains and cars. I also had no time to take him to the institute myself because I work in agriculture, and I did not find anyone from the village who wanted to take my son with them.
The summary of the matter is that I was unable to fulfill what I said. I ask for your guidance, may Allah reward you with good. Have I committed a sin?
Answer: If you made a vow, saying: “It is upon me for Allah” or “I vow to Allah,” or “I give charity to Allah” to place my child in Al-Azhar as a vow, then this is expiated with the expiation of an oath; because you are unable to do this thing. So upon you is the expiation of an oath, and praise be to Allah. It is feeding ten poor people. The expiation of an oath is feeding ten poor people, or clothing them, or freeing a believing slave. If you feed ten people, whether you feed them dinner or lunch, or clothe them with clothing that suffices them for prayer, then you have fulfilled what is upon you, and praise be to Allah.
And if you give them food, one and a half kilograms of rice or dates or wheat for each person, that suffices. And if you clothe each person with a shirt, that suffices.
As for if you did not make a vow, if you said: “I will certainly do so,” but you did not make a vow, you did not say: “I vow to Allah,” and you did not swear an oath, then nothing is upon you. But you should seek for him a good school where there are good, righteous people from the people of the Sunnah and the community, from the supporters of the Sunnah and others from the people of the Sunnah known for goodness, so that he studies there. Or a sound, good religious institute where he studies, and praise be to Allah. You must strive so that he is in a good school that teaches the Qur'an and teaches people the religious sciences, and where there are no corrupt people from the people of innovation, so that by doing so you have fulfilled the trust; because this child is a trust in your care. So you must strive so that his education is in a good place, where there are no superstitions, but in a good school or a good institute. It is not obligatory for you to educate him in Al-Azhar. And upon you is the expiation of an oath if you were the one who made the vow. But if you did not make a vow, and you only said: “If Allah wills,” or “I will do such and such,” this is not a vow, and nothing is upon you. But if you said: “By Allah, I will certainly do so,” or “I vow to Allah that I will certainly do so,” then upon you is the expiation of an oath.
May Allah reform your child and guide us and you to good.
The presenter: May Allah reward you with good, Your Eminence the Shaykh! What if his speech was conditioned on Allah’s will?
The Shaykh: Nothing is upon him. If he said: “If Allah wills,” nothing is upon him. Yes.
The presenter: May Allah reward you with good.