If a servant has a need from his Lord, then he turns to his Lord to supplicate to Him and says, “O my Lord, I have a covenant with You that if You grant my request, I will not do such-and-such or such-and-such,” and then Allah grants
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The questioner : If a servant has a need from his Lord, then he turns to his Lord to supplicate to Him and says, “O my Lord! I have a covenant with You that if You grant my request, I will not do such-and-such or such-and-such,” and then Allah grants His servant the need, and the servant regrets the covenant he made with Allah because that covenant is a hardship for him, is it permissible to abandon this covenant with Allah?
The Shaykh : We must know what it is that he covenanted with Allah to leave. If it is something permissible, such as saying, “I have a covenant with Allah that I will not eat such-and-such food,” then we say: eat it, and expiate for your vow, because this is a vow for something permissible.
As for if it is something forbidden, and he says, “I have a covenant with Allah that I will not backbite people,” then it is obligatory for him not to backbite, and backbiting becomes forbidden for him from two angles:
The first angle is that it is originally forbidden, indeed it is among the major sins, and the second is that he covenanted with Allah to leave it if his specific need was realized, and it has been realized.
And let it be known that a vow is originally disliked or forbidden, meaning that you should never say, “I have a vow for Allah,” because the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) prohibited vows and said:Sunan an-Nasa'i 3801Sahih (Darussalam). If the prohibition and the negation of good coincide, this indicates that it is severely disliked, and some scholars said that it is forbidden.
Many are those who make vows and regret it afterwards, and many are those who make vows and then do not fulfill them. If the one who makes a vow makes a vow for obedience and does not fulfill it, and this vow is conditioned by something that Allah granted him, then he is to be feared of hypocrisy. Allah the Mighty and Majestic said:[At-Tawbah 9:75-77].
So I have prohibited my brothers from making vows, just as the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) prohibited them from that, and I say: it does not bring good, and it does not avert a decree. What is decreed will happen, and the good will happen without a vow if Allah wills it.
Some people, if they have a sick person and the illness lasts long or is severe, or they despair of his recovery, say, “I have a vow for Allah that if Allah heals my sick person, I will do such-and-such and such-and-such.” Then the sick person is healed, but he does not fulfill it, or he fulfills it with great hardship that Allah did not obligate him with except through the vow. So let a man fear Allah and not take risks, and let him be gentle with himself, and let him know that what Allah wills to decree will happen whether he makes a vow or not, and what Allah does not will will not happen even if he makes a vow.
The Shaykh : We must know what it is that he covenanted with Allah to leave. If it is something permissible, such as saying, “I have a covenant with Allah that I will not eat such-and-such food,” then we say: eat it, and expiate for your vow, because this is a vow for something permissible.
As for if it is something forbidden, and he says, “I have a covenant with Allah that I will not backbite people,” then it is obligatory for him not to backbite, and backbiting becomes forbidden for him from two angles:
The first angle is that it is originally forbidden, indeed it is among the major sins, and the second is that he covenanted with Allah to leave it if his specific need was realized, and it has been realized.
And let it be known that a vow is originally disliked or forbidden, meaning that you should never say, “I have a vow for Allah,” because the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) prohibited vows and said:
They do not bring any good
إنه لا يأتي بخيرMany are those who make vows and regret it afterwards, and many are those who make vows and then do not fulfill them. If the one who makes a vow makes a vow for obedience and does not fulfill it, and this vow is conditioned by something that Allah granted him, then he is to be feared of hypocrisy. Allah the Mighty and Majestic said:
(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.
ومنهم من عاهد الله لئن آتانا من فضله لنصدقن ولنكونن من الصالحين ، فلما آتاهم من فضله بخلوا به وتولوا وهم معرضون ، فأعقبهم نفاقا في قلوبهم إلى يوم يلقونه بما أخلفوا الله ما وعدوه وبما كانوا يكذبونSo I have prohibited my brothers from making vows, just as the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) prohibited them from that, and I say: it does not bring good, and it does not avert a decree. What is decreed will happen, and the good will happen without a vow if Allah wills it.
Some people, if they have a sick person and the illness lasts long or is severe, or they despair of his recovery, say, “I have a vow for Allah that if Allah heals my sick person, I will do such-and-such and such-and-such.” Then the sick person is healed, but he does not fulfill it, or he fulfills it with great hardship that Allah did not obligate him with except through the vow. So let a man fear Allah and not take risks, and let him be gentle with himself, and let him know that what Allah wills to decree will happen whether he makes a vow or not, and what Allah does not will will not happen even if he makes a vow.