Oaths and Vows (Kitab Al-Aiman Wa Al-Nudhur)
كتاب الأيمان والنذور
Chapter 18: How Much Is The Sa' For Expiation ?
When Khalid al-Qasri was made ruler (of Hijaz and Kufah), he doubled the measure of sa'. The sa' then measured sixteen rotls.
Abu Dawud said: Muhammad b. Muhammad b. Khattab was slain by Negroes in confinement. He said while signing with his hand: "in this way". Abu Dawud extended his hand and turned his palms towards earth and said: I saw him in the dream and asked him: How did Allah deal with you ? He replied: He admitted to Paradise. I said: Your detention did not harm you.
Chapter 19: Freeing A Believing Slave (As Expiation)
I said: Messenger of Allah, I have a slave girl whom I slapped. This grieved the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ). I said to him: Should I not emancipate her? He said: Bring her to me. He said: Then I brought her. He asked: Where is Allah ? She replied: In the heaven. He said: Who am I ? She replied: You are the Messenger of Allah. He said: Emancipate her, she is a believer.
Sharid's mother left a will to emancipate a believing slave on her behalf. So he came to the Prophet (ﷺ) and said: Messenger of Allah, my mother left a will that I should emancipate a believing slave for her, and I have a black Nubian slave-girl. He mentioned a tradition about the test of the girl.
Abu Dawud said: Khalid b. 'Abd Allah narrated this tradition direct from the Prophet (ﷺ). He did not mention the name of al-Sharid.
A man brought the Prophet (ﷺ) a black slave girl. He said: Messenger of Allah, emancipation of believing slave is due to me. He asked her: Where is Allah ? She pointed to the heaven with her finger. He then asked her: Who am I ? She pointed to the Prophet (ﷺ) and to the heaven, that is to say: You are the Messenger of Allah. He then said: Set her free, she is a believer.
Chapter 20: Making An Exception (Saying: In-Sha'-Allah) After Swearing One's Oath
The Prophet (ﷺ) said: I swear by Allah, I shall fight against the Quraysh; I swear by Allah, I shall fight against the Quraysh; I swear by Allah, I shall fight against the Quraysh. He then said: "If Allah wills."
Abu Dawud said: A number of persons have narrated this tradition from Sharik, from Simak, from 'Ikrimah, from Ibn 'Abbas who reported from the Prophet (ﷺ): "But he did not fight against them."
The Prophet (ﷺ) as saying: I swear by Allah, I shall fight against the Quraish. The then said: If Allah wills. He again said: I swear by Allah, I shall fight against the Quraish if Allah wills. He again said: I swear by Allah, I shall fight against the Quraish. He then kept silence. Then he said: If Allah wills.
Abu Dawud said: Al-Walid b. Muslim said on the authority of Sharik: He then said: But he did not fight against them.
Chapter 21: Is It Disliked To Make Vows
The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) forbade to make a vow. He said: It has not effect against fate, it is only from the miserly that it is means by which something is extracted.
Musaddad said: The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) said: A vow does not avert anything (i.e. has no effect against fate).
The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) as saying: A vow does not provide for the son of Adam anything which I did not decree for him, but a vow draws it. A Divine decree is one which I have destined, it is extracted from a miser. He is given what he was not given before.
Chapter 22: Vowing To Commit An Act Of Disobedience
The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) as saying: If anyone vows to obey Allah, let him obey Him, but if anyone vows to disobey Him, let him not disobey Him.
Chapter 23: The View That Atonement Is Necessary If A Man Vows To Disobey Allah
The Prophet (ﷺ) as saying: No vow must be taken to do an act of disobedience, and the atonement for it is the same as for an oath.
Abu Dawud said: I heard Ahmad b. Hanbal say: I have corrupted this tradition for us. He was asked: Do you think that it is correct that this tradition has been corrupted? Has any person other than Ibn Abi Uwais transmitted it ? He replied: Ayyub was similar to him in respect of reliability, and Ayyub transmitted it.
Ahmad b. Muhammad al-Marwazi said: The correct chain of this tradition is: 'Ali b. al-Mubarak, from Yahya b. Abi Kathir, from Muhammad b. al-Zubair, from his father, on the authority of 'Imran b. Husain from the Prophet (ﷺ)
Abu Dawud said: By this he (al-Marwazi) means that the narrator Sulaiman b. Arqam had some misunderstanding about this tradition. Al-Zuhri narrated it from him and then transmitted it (omitting his name) from Abu Salamah on the authority of 'Aishah.
Abu Dawud said: Baqiyyah has transmitted it from al-Auza'i from Yahya, from Muhammad b. al-Zubair with a similar chain of Ibn al-Mubarak.
Uqbah consulted the Prophet (ﷺ) about his sister who took a vow to perform hajj barefooted and bareheaded. So he said: Command her to cover her head and to ride, and to fast three days.
The tradition mentioned above has also been transmitted by Abu Sa'id al-Ru'aini with the same chain as narrated by Yahya (b. Sa'id) and to the same effect.
A man came to Prophet (ﷺ) and said: Messenger of Allah, my sister has taken a vow to perform hajj on foot. The Prophet (ﷺ) said: Allah gets no good from the affliction your sister imposed on herself, so let her perform hajj riding and make atonement for her oath.
That the sister of 'Uqbah b. 'Amir took vow to walk on foot to the Ka'bah. Thereupon the Prophet (ﷺ) ordered her to ride and slaughter a sacrificial animal.
That when the Prophet (ﷺ) was informed that the sister of 'Uqbah b. 'Amir had taken a vow to perform Hajj on foot, he said: Allah is not in need of her vow. So ask her to ride.
Abu Dawud said: Sa'ib b. 'Arubah has transmitted a similar tradition. Khalid has also transmitted a similar tradition on the authority of 'Ikrimah from the Prophet (ﷺ).
The tradition about the sister of 'Uqbah b. 'Amir as narrated by Hisham, but he made no mention of the sacrificial animal. In his version he said: Ask your sister to ride.
Abu Dawud said: Khalid narrated it from 'Ikrimah to the same effect as narrated by Hisham.
My sister took a vow to walk on foot to the House of Allah (i.e. Ka'bah). She asked me to consult the Prophet (ﷺ) about her. So I consulted the Prophet (ﷺ). He said: Let her walk and ride.
While the Prophet (ﷺ) was preaching a man was standing in the sun. He asked about him. They said: He is Abu Isra'il who has taken a vow to stand and not to sit, or go into shade, or speak, but to fast. Thereupon he said: Command him to speak, to go into the shade, sit and complete his fast.