Oaths , Vows and Expiation

Oaths (Al-Yameen), Vows (Nadhr) and Expiation (Kaffaarah)

The Oath (Al-Yameen) An oath is a solemn statement to do or to refrain from something; or it is said to emphasise that something is true, such that if things turn out otherwise, the one who has made the oath must make expiation.

Permissible and Forbidden Forms ofTaking Oaths It is permissible to swear by the Name of Allah, the Most High, and His Attributes. An oath only validly comes into effect if sworn by one of the Names of Allah, Most High, or by one of His Attributes. There are various names of Allah that are applied to no one but Him, such as Allah, the All-Merciful and the Knower of the Unseen. An oath sworn by any of these is valid without restriction.

Hence, the oath, or al-yameen, is swearing by the Names of Allah, the Most High, or His Attributes; for example, saying, 'By Allah, I will do such-and-such a thing.' or saying, " swear by Him in whose Hand my soul is', or I swear by the Turner of the hearts', etc.

The word used for oath is al-yameen, which literally means right hand, and the basis for it is that the Arabs, when they made a contract or pledge, they would shake each other's right hands. An oath, therefore, became termed 'yameen'.

An oath is only valid from a person I who makes the oath voluntarily and intends an oath thereby. It is forbidden to swear by other than any of the Names of Allah and His Attributes. This is due to the statement of Allah's Messenger , 'Whoever swears, then let him swear by Allah or let him remain silent.' (al-Bukhaaree and Muslim)

He also said, 'Do not swear except by Allah, and do not swear unless you are telling the truth.' (Abu Daawood and an-Nasaa'ee, and it is saheeh) The Prophet ﷺ also warned, 'Whoever swears by other than Allah has committed an act of shirk (polytheism: setting partners with Allah).' (Ahmad, Abu Daawood and At-Tirmidhee, and it is saheeh)

Three Types of Oaths There are three categories of oaths. They are:

1 Al-Yameen al-Ghamoos: the Engulfing Oath: An engulfing oath is one in which there is pre-meditated (well-thought in advance) lying. It is termed engulfing, because it overwhelms or drowns the one who has made it in sin. Allah's Messenger ﷺ is reported to have said, 'The major sins (al-kabaa'ir) are shirk, showing disrespect to parents, killing a human being, and the engulfing oath.' (al-Bukhaaree)

Al-Yameen al-Ghamoos

A man once said, 'By Allah, Allah will not forgive so-and-so.' Allah said, 'Who is it that swears I must not forgive so-and-so? i forgive him and erase all your works.' (Muslim) Allah's Messenger ﷺ said, 'Lying leads one to wickedness and wickedness leads one to Hell. A man keeps lying until Allah records that he is a liar.' (al-Bukhaaree)

The Prophet ﷺ also once said, 'The signs of a hypocrite are three: when he speaks, he lies; when he makes a promise, he breaks it; and when he is entrusted with something, he betrays the trust.' (al-Bukhaaree)

For instance someone says, 'By Allah, truly I purchased such-and-such a thing for fifty dollars.' He, however, did not buy it for fifty. Or he says, 'By Allah, I did such-and-such,' while he did not do it. This type of swearing is called al-yameen al-ghamoos - the engulfing oath, because it 'drowns' Or 'overwhelms' the one who has made it in sin. This is the swearing that is meant by the statement of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ , 'Whoever swears an oath and he is sinful in it in order to cut off the wealth of a Muslim individual will meet Allah while Allah is angry with him.' (al-Bukhaaree and Muslim)

The Ruling Concerning Al-Yameen al-Ghamoos: the Engulfing Oath

The ruling concerning this type of oath is that it cannot expiate for it. The only thing obligatory concerning it is sincere repentance and seeking Allah's forgiveness. This is because it is such a tremendous sin as it is connected with taking the right of a Muslim through falsehood. Imaam Ash-Shaafi'ee, however, maintained that it is obligatory to expiate for al-yameen al-ghamoos.

Answer these questions

1. What are the two conditions required to make an oath a valid one?

3. Who will Allah record as a liar?

4. Why is the engulfing oath so called?

2. What is an engulfing oath? Can one expiate for it?

2) Laghw Al-Yameen: An Unintentional Oath

This is the oath of someone whose tongue runs away with him and who unthinkably swears an oath, or someone who intends a particular oath but unintentionally swears something else. This does not count and it is considered an unintentional oath; for instance, a person who utters in his speech, 'No, by Allah,' or 'of course, by Allah,' etc.

2) Laghw Al-Yameen: An Unintentional Oath

The ruling concerning such oaths is that there is no sin in them. There is no obligation due upon the one who utters them. This is due to Allah's statement in the Qur'an, 'Allah will not call you to account for oaths which you may have uttered without thought, but He will take you to task for oaths which you have sworn in earnest.' (5: 89)

The Word 'Laghw

The word 'laghw' means unnecessary words or things which are not profitable or good, or which do not involve wrongdoing. The term laghw is used in a hadeeth to describe someone else speaking while the imaam is delivering the sermon on the pulpit on Friday.

The Word 'Laghw

According to some scholars, a careless oath (laghw al-yameen) refers to those that people make while speaking or arguing when they say, 'NO, by Allah,' and 'yes, by Allah,' without really intending to make an oath. Hence,an unintentional oath is man's language at home. It is an off-hand or casual oath made out of habit or in the heat of the moment.

3) Al-Yameen al-Mun'aqidah: Deliberate or Binding Oath

This denotes an oath that is intended to be fulfilled concerning some future matter. For instance, if a Muslim says, by Allah, I will certainly do such-and-such a thing,' or 'By Allah, I will not do such-and-such a thing.' This is the oath regarding which the person who breaks it is held accountable. This is due to Allah's statement, 'But He will take you to task for oaths which you have sworn in earnest. (5: 89)

The ruling concerning A Yameen al-Mun'aqidah: Deliberate or Binding Oath

Whoever breaks this type of oath is considered sinful, and it is obligatory upon him to expiate for it. If he carries out its expiation, the sin is removed from him.

Example of not Breaking One's Oath

If one swears, I will not enter this house,' but then does SO absent-mindedly, in ignorance of its being the house, under compulsion or by being carried in, then one's oath is not broken.

The Expiation for a Broken Oath: Kaffaarah

Expiation is obligatory for someone who swears and breaks an oath. The expiation for a broken oath consists of a choice of any of the following:

The Expiation for a Broken Oath: Kaffaarah

1. Feeding ten people who are poor, by giving them each a mudd of grain (a mudd is two cupped handfuls), or gathering them all for lunch or dinner so that they may eat until they are satisfied, or giving each one of them enough to eat.

The Expiation for a Broken Oath: Kaffaarah

2. Provide clothing for ten such persons that they can wear during prayer. If one provides a garment to a poor woman, he must give her a long shirt and a head scarf, because it is the minimum requirement that suffices her in prayer.

The Expiation for a Broken Oath: Kaffaarah

3. Set free a Muslim slave. 4. If one is unable to do any of the above, one must fast for three days. It is better to fast them consecutively, though it is permitted to do SO non-consecutively.

The Expiation for a Broken Oath: Kaffaarah

This is all due to the statement of Allah, the Most High, 'The breaking of an oath must be atoned for by the feeding of ten poor persons with more or less the same food as you normally give to your own families, or by clothing them, or by freeing of one slave. He who cannot afford any of these shall fast for three days instead.' (5: 89)

The Vow: Nadhr

Lexically, the term vow means any promise. It is legally defined as making obligatory some act of worship that was not originally obligatory in the Sharee'ah, such as optional fast or prayer and the like. This is for example like a person saying, 'I owe Allah a day of fasting, or two rak'ahs of prayer if such-and-such a thing happens.'

The Condition for the Legal Validity of a Vow or Nadhr

A vow to perform some pious act is only valid if: 1. It is made by a Muslim who is legally responsible (mukallaf), has reached the age of puberty and is sane.

The Condition for the Legal Validity of a Vow or Nadhr

2. It concerns some act of worship, which means acts that are voluntary or optional and not obligatory. This is because to take an oath to undertake an obligatory act is not valid whether it involves performance of an obligatory prayer or fast, or keeping away from something such as vowing to abstain from wine or adultery and the like. Such vows are not valid, because Allah has made them obligatory and making it obligatory on oneself to do them is meaningless.

A vow to do something, such as standing, sitting, eating or sleeping, is not legally valid, because these are not acts of worship. The reason for it is the hadeeth related by Al-Bukhaaree that Allah's Messenger ﷺ passed by a man standing in the sun without seeking shade. When he inquired about it and was told that it was Abu Israa'eel who had vowed to stand while fasting, without sitting, taking shade or speaking he replied, 'Pass by him and have him sit in the shade and speak, but let him complete his fast.'

General Provisions Regarding Vows

1. A valid vow (nadhr) to do an act of worship makes the act obligatory. 2. One must fulfil a vow that one has made conditional upon the occurrence of some event, such as by saying, 'If Allah heals my sick friend, I vow to fast for three days, or give in charity.'

In fact, this becomes obligatory if the sick person regains his health. The ruling concerning this type of vow is that it is obligatory to fulfil it, although making such a vow is not encouraged by Islam. This is based upon a hadeeth related on the authority of Abdullaah ibn Umar who said, 'Allah's Messenger ﷺ singled out one day forbidding us to take vows and said, "It would not avert anything, it is by which something is extracted from the miserly person." (Muslim)

This means by taking a vow, the calamity is not necessarily averted; its aversion depends upon the Will of Allah. If Allah so wills, it is averted, but if He does not so desire, it is not averted. What this means is that there is no direct link between a vow and aversion of calamity.

It is Allah Who is the Final Disposer of things. And the miser does not open the strings of his purse unless threatened by unforeseen calamities, and thus the vows become the means whereby he spends something on poor people. For this reason, many pious, learned and intelligent Muslims avoid making vows.

A. Answer these questions

1. What is the intentional oath? Will it be accounted for by Allah?

3. How can one expiate an oath?

What are the two conditions for a valid nadhr?

2. What is the deliberate oath?

B. Give one-line definition for the following Arabic terms.

1. Yameen

4. Shirk

2. Nadhr

5. Laghw

3. Kaffaarah

C. Fill in the blanks.

1. The word yameen literally means 2. A is one who has reached the age of maturity and is sane. 3. There is no direct link between a vow and 4. Making is not encouraged by Islam .

¡Thanks!