Oaths and Vows (Kitab Al-Aiman Wa Al-Nudhur)

‘Imran ibn Husayn reported that the Prophet ﷺ said, ‘Whoever knowingly swears a false oath under coercion should take his place in the Fire.’

‘Abd Allah ibn Mas‘ud reported that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said, ‘Whoever swears a false oath to seize a Muslim’s property will meet Allah while He is angry with him.’ Al-Ash‘ath said, ‘By Allah, this was about me. A Jewish man and I disputed over land. He denied my claim, so I brought him to the Prophet ﷺ. He asked me, “Do you have proof?” I said no. He told the Jewish man to swear. I said, “Messenger of Allah, then he will swear and take my property.”’ Then Allah revealed the verse, ‘Those who sell Allah’s covenant and their oaths for a small price…’

Al-Ash‘ath ibn Qays reported that a man from Kindah and a man from Hadramawt disputed before the Prophet ﷺ over land in Yemen. The Hadrami said, ‘Messenger of Allah, this man’s father wrongfully took my land, and it is now in his possession.’ The Prophet asked whether he had proof. He said no, but asked the other man to swear that he did not know his father had taken the land. When the Kindi prepared to swear, the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said, ‘No one who takes property through an oath will meet Allah except with his hand mutilated.’ The Kindi then acknowledged, ‘It is his land.’

‘Alqamah ibn Wa’il reported from his father that a man from Hadramawt and a man from Kindah came to the Messenger of Allah ﷺ. The Hadrami said, ‘This man forcibly took land belonging to my father.’ The Kindi replied, ‘It is my land, in my possession, and I cultivate it; he has no claim to it.’ The Prophet ﷺ asked the Hadrami whether he had proof. He said no, and warned that the other man was unscrupulous and would swear to anything. The Prophet said, ‘You have no recourse against him except his oath.’ As the Kindi turned to swear, the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said, ‘If he swears to wrongfully consume property, he will meet Allah while He has turned away from him.’

Jabir ibn ‘Abd Allah reported that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said, ‘No one should swear a sinful oath at this pulpit of mine, even concerning a green tooth-stick, without earning a place in the Fire’—or, ‘the Fire becomes due for him.’

Abu Hurayrah reported that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said, ‘Whoever swears by al-Lat should say, “There is no god but Allah”; and whoever tells his companion, “Come, let us gamble,” should give something in charity.’

Abu Hurayrah reported that the Prophet ﷺ said, ‘Do not swear by your fathers, your mothers, or rivals to Allah. Swear only by Allah, and swear by Allah only when you are truthful.’

‘Umar ibn al-Khattab reported that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ caught up with him while he was in a caravan and swearing by his father. The Prophet said, ‘Allah forbids you to swear by your fathers. Whoever swears should swear by Allah or remain silent.’

A parallel transmission from Ibn ‘Umar has the same meaning up to ‘by your fathers’ and adds: ‘“By Allah, I have never sworn by it either deliberately or while quoting someone else,” said ‘Umar.’

Sa‘id ibn ‘Ubaydah said that Ibn ‘Umar heard a man swear, ‘No, by the Ka‘bah!’ Ibn ‘Umar told him, ‘I heard the Messenger of Allah ﷺ say, “Whoever swears by anything besides Allah has committed shirk.”’

Talhah ibn ‘Ubayd Allah reported that, in the account of the Bedouin, the Prophet ﷺ said, ‘He will prosper, by his father, if he is truthful; he will enter Paradise, by his father, if he is truthful.’

Buraydah ibn al-Hasib reported that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said, ‘Whoever swears by al-Amanah is not one of us.’

‘Aishah explained that a thoughtless oath is a man’s casual words at home, such as ‘No, by Allah’ or ‘Yes, by Allah.’ Abu Dawud said that Ibrahim al-Sa’igh was a righteous man, killed by Abu Muslim at ‘Arandas. When Ibrahim raised his hammer and heard the call to prayer, he would put it down. Abu Dawud noted that Dawud ibn Abi al-Furat transmitted the report as ‘Aishah’s statement, not as a Prophetic report; al-Zuhri, ‘Abd al-Malik ibn Abi Sulayman, and Malik ibn Mighwal likewise transmitted it from ‘Ata’ as ‘Aishah’s statement.

Abu Hurayrah reported that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said, ‘An oath is judged by what your companion believes you to be truthful about.’ Musaddad’s transmission names the narrator as ‘Abd Allah ibn Abi Salih; Abu Dawud said both ‘Abd Allah ibn Abi Salih and ‘Abbad ibn Abi Salih refer to the same person.

Suwayd ibn Hanzalah said, ‘We set out to visit the Messenger of Allah ﷺ, with Wa’il ibn Hujr among us. An enemy seized him, and the others hesitated to swear an oath, but I swore that he was my brother, so the man released him. When we came to the Messenger of Allah ﷺ, I told him that the others had been reluctant to swear and that I had sworn Wa’il was my brother. He said, “You spoke truthfully: a Muslim is the brother of a Muslim.”’

Thabit ibn al-Dahhak, who had pledged allegiance to the Messenger of Allah ﷺ under the tree, reported that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said, ‘Whoever falsely swears by a religion other than Islam is as he has said; whoever kills himself with something will be punished with it on the Day of Resurrection; and no vow is binding on a person concerning what he does not possess.’

Buraydah reported that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said, ‘Whoever swears, “I disavow Islam,” if he is lying, then it is as he said; but if he is truthful, he will not return to Islam unharmed.’

Yusuf ibn ‘Abd Allah ibn Salam said, ‘I saw the Prophet ﷺ place a date on a piece of bread and say, “This is a relish for that.”’

A similar report is transmitted from Yusuf ibn ‘Abd Allah ibn Salam through another chain.