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

كتاب الأيمان والنذور

Chapter 11: Saying "If Allah Wills" When Swearing An Oath

Narrated Abdullah ibn Umar

The Prophet (ﷺ) said: If anyone says when swearing an oath: "If Allah wills," he makes an exception.

Narrated Abdullah ibn Umar

The Prophet (ﷺ) said: If anyone swears an oath and makes an exception, he may fulfil it if he wishes and break it if he wishes without any accountability for breaking.

Chapter 12: How The Prophet (saws) Swore An Oath

Narrated Ibn 'Umar

The oath which the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) often used was this: No, by Him who overturns the hearts.

Narrated AbuSa'id al-Khudri

When the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) swore an oath strongly, he said: No, by Him in Whose hand is the soul of AbulQasim.

Narrated AbuHurayrah

When the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) swore an oath, it was: No, and I beg forgiveness of Allah.

Narrated Laqit ibn Amir

We came to the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) in a delegation. The Prophet (ﷺ) then said: By the age of thy god.

Chapter 13: Is Al-Qasam An Oath ?

Narrated Abdullah ibn Abbas

AbuBakr adjured the Prophet (ﷺ). The Prophet (ﷺ) said: Do not adjure an oath.

Narrated Ibn 'Abbas

Abu Hurairah narrated that a man came to the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) and said: I had a dream last night, and he then mentioned it. So Abu Bakr interpreted it. The Prophet (ﷺ) said: You are partly right and partly wrong. He then said: I adjure you, Messenger of Allah, may my father be sacrificed on you, do tell me the mistake I have committed. The Prophet (ﷺ) said: Do not adjure.

The tradition mentioned above has also been transmitted by Ibn 'Abbas through a different chain of narrators. In this version there is no mention of the word qasam (oath). It has the words

"He did not inform him."

Chapter 14: One Who Swears Not To Eat Food

Narrated 'Abd al-Rahman b. Abi Bakr

Some guests visited us, and Abu Bakr was conversing with the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) at night. He (Abu Bakr) said: I will not return to you until you are free from their entertainment and serving them food. So he brought them food, but they said: We shall not eat it until Abu Bakr comes (back). Abu Bakr then came and asked: What did your guest do? Are you free from their entertainment ? They said: No. I said: I brought them food, but they refused and said: We swear by Allah, we shall not take it until he comes. They said: He spoke the truth. He brought it to us, but we refused (to take it) until you come. He asked: What did prevent you ? He said: I swear by Allah, I shall not take food tonight. They said: And we also swear by Allah that we shall not take food until you take it. He said: I never saw an evil like the one tonight. He said: Bring your food near (you). He ('Abd al-Rahman) said: Their food was then brought near them. He said: In the name of Allah, and he took the food, and they also took it. I then informed him that the dawn had broken. So he went to th Prophet (ﷺ) and informed him of what he and they had done. He said: You are the most obedient and most trustful of them.

A similar tradition has also been transmitted by 'Abd al-Rahman b. Abi Bakr through a different chain of narrators. This version adds on the authority of Salim

"Expiation (for breaking the oath) has not reached me."

Chapter 15: An Oath To Sever Ties Of Kinship

Sa'id ibn al-Musayyab said

Umar said to him: The Ka'bah does not need your property. Make atonement for your oath and speak to your brother. I heard the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) say: An oath or vow to disobey the Lord, or to break ties of relationship or about something over which one has no control is not binding on you.

Narrated Abdullah ibn Amr ibn al-'As

The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) said: A vow is binding in those things by which the pleasure of Allah is sought, and an oath to break ties of relationship is not binding.

Narrated Abdullah ibn Amr ibn al-'As

The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) said: An oath or a vow about something over which a human being has no control, and to disobey Allah, and to break ties of relationship is not binding. If anyone takes an oath and then considers something else better than it, he should give it up, and do what is better, for leaving it is its atonement.

Abu Dawud said: All sound traditions from the Prophet (ﷺ) say: "He should make atonement for his oath," except those versions which are not reliable.

Abu Dawud said: I said to Ahmad: Yahya b. Sa'id (al-Qattan) has transmitted this tradition from Yahya b. 'Ubaid Allah. He (Ahmad b. Hanbal) said: But he gave it up after that, and he was competent for doing it. Ahmad said: His (Yahya b. 'Ubaid Allah's) tradition are munkar (rejected) and his father is not known.

Chapter 16: Intentionally Swearing A False Oath

Narrated Abdullah ibn Abbas

Two men brought their dispute to the Prophet (ﷺ). The Prophet (ﷺ) asked the plaintiff to produce evidence, but he had no evidence. So he asked the defendant to swear. He swore by Allah "There is no god but He."

The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) said: Yes, you have done it, but you have been forgiven for the sincerity of the statement: "There is no god but Allah."

Abu Dawud said: This tradition means that he did not command him to make atonement

Chapter 17: Breaking The Oath When That Is Better

Narrated Abu Burdah

On the authority of his father that the Prophet (ﷺ) said: I swear by Allah that if Allah wills I shall swear on an oath and then consider something else to be better than it without making atonement for my oath and doing the thing that is better. Or he said (according to another version): But doing the thing that is better and making atonement for my oath.

Narrated 'Abd al-Rahman b. Samurah

The Prophet (ﷺ) said to me: 'Abd al-Rahman b. Samurah, when you swear an oath and consider something else to be better than it, do the thing that is beter and make atonement for your oath.

Abu Dawud said: I heard Ahmad (b. Hanbal) permitting to make atonement before breaking the oath.

A similar tradition has been transmitted by 'Abd al-Rahman b. Samurah through a different chain if narrators. This version has

Abu Dawud said: The version of this tradition transmitted by Abu Musa al-Ash'ari, 'Adi b. Hatim and Abu Hurairah are variant. Some of them indicate breaking the oath before making atonement, and other making atonement before breaking the oath.

Chapter 18: How Much Is The Sa' For Expiation ?

Narrated Safiyyah bint Huyayy

Ibn Harmalah said: Umm Habib gave us a sa' and told us narration from the nephew of Safiyyah on the authority of Safiyyah that it was the sa' of the Prophet (ﷺ).

Anas ibn Ayyad said: I tested it and found its capacity two and half mudd according to the mudd of Hisham.

Narrated Muhammad b. Muhmmad b. Khattab Abu 'Umar

We had a makkuk which was called Makkuk Khalid. Its capacity was two measurements according to the measurements of Harun. The narrator said: The sa' of Khalid was the sa' of Hisham b. 'Abd al-Malik.