The Obligation to Hasten in Fulfilling a Vow

This is a letter we received from the teacher Muhammad Salman Salim al-Jarimin from Jordan, who teaches in the Arab Republic of Yemen. He says: I vowed to myself that I would slaughter two animals for the sake of Allah if Allah granted me a child and he lived until forty days. I made this vow while I was residing in Jordan, but my wording was as follows: “O Lord! If You grant me a child and he lives, then upon his forty days I will slaughter two animals for Your sake.” Fate willed it, and I traveled to Yemen, and a telegram reached me informing me that my wife had given birth to a daughter and she is well. The question is: Do I have the right to wait until I return from Yemen to Jordan and then fulfill my vow, or should I fulfill it in Yemen? What is the best way to distribute the vow? Am I allowed to eat from the vow or not? Am I allowed to invite anyone to it? Please inform us, may Allah reward you with good.
Answer: It is obligatory to hasten in fulfilling the vow; because the legal principle is that “obligations must be hastened in,” unless they are tied to a specific time. It is obligatory for you to hasten in fulfilling the vow once the forty days are completed. If the child has completed forty days, it is obligatory for you to hasten in doing what you vowed in Yemen itself. As for whether you eat or do not eat, that depends on your intention. If you intended that you, your neighbors, and your relatives would eat from it, then you slaughter the two animals and you, your neighbors, and your relatives eat from it. However, if you did not intend anything, then they are slaughtered for the poor and distributed among the poor and the needy, and you do not eat anything from them; because you did not intend that. The original ruling for vows is that they are for the poor and the needy, not for the one who made the vow. This is the original ruling, unless you intended that you and your household would eat from it. Then you have your intention: you and your household and your neighbors eat from it, and you give to the poor. You should not make vows in the future. The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) prohibited vows, saying: “Indeed, they do not bring any good, but rather they are used to extract money from the miser.” You should never make a vow; because the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) prohibited that. He said: “Do not make vows, for a vow does not turn back anything from the decree of Allah, but rather it is used to extract money from the miser.”
Second: You said in your speech, “Fate willed it.” This phrase is not appropriate and it is not permissible to say “Fate willed it.” Rather, one should say: “Allah the Exalted willed it,” “My Lord the Exalted willed it,” “The King willed it,” “The Lord, Exalted and Majestic is He, willed it,” “The Merciful willed it,” “My Lord willed it,” and the like. That is to say: the will is attributed to Allah; because fate has no power of action. Fate is something that has passed according to the knowledge of Allah, Glorified and Exalted is He. Yes.
The presenter: May Allah bless you...
The Shaykh: Did he mention two animals?
The presenter: Yes.
The Shaykh: Two animals?
The presenter: Yes.
The Shaykh: Yes.
The presenter: May Allah reward you.