The Book on Vows and Oaths

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Qutaybah narrated to us: Abu Safwan narrated to us; Yunus ibn Yazid narrated to us, from Ibn Shihab, from Abu Salamah, from Aishah, who said: The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) said: “There is no vow in disobedience, and its expiation is the same as the expiation for an oath.” Reports on this topic are also related from Ibn Umar, Jabir, and Imran ibn Husayn. Abu Isa said: This hadith is not authentic, because al-Zuhri did not hear it from Abu Salamah. I heard Muhammad say: More than one narrator, including Musa ibn Uqbah and Ibn Abi Atiq, narrated it from al-Zuhri, from Sulayman ibn Arqam, from Yahya ibn Abi Kathir, from Abu Salamah, from Aishah, from the Prophet (ﷺ). Muhammad said: This is the correct version of the hadith.

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Abu Ismail al-Tirmidhi—whose name was Muhammad ibn Ismail ibn Yusuf—narrated to us: Ayyub ibn Sulayman ibn Bilal narrated to us; Abu Bakr ibn Abi Uways narrated to us, from Sulayman ibn Bilal, from Musa ibn Uqbah and Muhammad ibn Abdullah ibn Abi Atiq, from al-Zuhri, from Sulayman ibn Arqam, from Yahya ibn Abi Kathir, from Abu Salamah, from Aishah, from the Prophet (ﷺ), who said: “There is no vow in disobedience to Allah, and its expiation is the same as the expiation for an oath.” Abu Isa said: This hadith is gharīb, and it is more authentic than the hadith of Abu Safwan from Yunus. Abu Safwan was a Meccan; his name was Abdullah ibn Said ibn Abd al-Malik ibn Marwan. Al-Humaydi and several eminent hadith scholars narrated from him. Some people of knowledge among the Companions and others said: There is no vow in disobedience to Allah, and its expiation is the same as the expiation for an oath. This was the view of Ahmad and Ishaq, who cited the report of al-Zuhri from Abu Salamah from Aishah. Other people of knowledge among the Companions and others said: There is no vow in disobedience, and there is no expiation for it. This was the view of Malik and al-Shafii.

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Qutaybah ibn Said narrated to us: Malik ibn Anas narrated to us, from Talhah ibn Abd al-Malik al-Ayli, from al-Qasim ibn Muhammad, from Aishah, from the Prophet (ﷺ), who said: “Whoever vows to obey Allah should obey Him, and whoever vows to disobey Allah should not disobey Him.”

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Al-Hasan bin Ali Al-Khallal narrated to us: Abdullah bin Numair narrated to us, from Ubaidullah bin Umar, from Talhah bin Abdul-Malik Al-Ayli, from Al-Qasim bin Muhammad, from Aishah, from the Prophet (ﷺ), something similar. Abu Isa said: This hadith is Hasan Sahih. Yahya bin Abi Kathir also narrated it from Al-Qasim bin Muhammad. This is the view of some of the people of knowledge among the Companions of the Prophet and others. Malik and Ash-Shafii held this view. They said: “He must not disobey Allah,” and there is no expiation for an oath when the vow concerns disobedience.

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Ahmad bin Mani narrated to us: Ishaq bin Yusuf Al-Azraq narrated to us, from Hisham Ad-Dastawai, from Yahya bin Abi Kathir, from Abu Qilabah, from Thabit bin Ad-Dahhak, from the Prophet (ﷺ), who said: “A person is not bound by a vow concerning something he does not possess.” He said: There are also reports on this topic from Abdullah bin Amr and Imran bin Husain. Abu Isa said: This hadith is Hasan Sahih.

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Ahmad bin Mani narrated to us: Abu Bakr bin Ayyash narrated to us; Muhammad, the freedman of Al-Mughira bin Shubah, narrated to me; Kab bin Alqamah narrated to me, from Abul-Khair, from Uqbah bin Amir, who said: The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) said: “The expiation for an unspecified vow is the expiation for an oath.” Abu Isa said: This hadith is Hasan Sahih Gharib.

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Muhammad bin Abdul-Ala As-Sanani narrated to us: Al-Mutamir bin Sulayman narrated to us, from Yunus (that is, Ibn Ubaid); Al-Hasan narrated to us, from Abdur-Rahman bin Samurah, who said: The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) said: “O Abdur-Rahman, do not ask for authority. If it is granted to you because you asked for it, you will be left to bear it on your own; but if it comes to you without your asking, you will be helped in it. If you swear an oath and then see that something else is better, do what is better and make expiation for your oath.” There are also reports on this topic from Ali, Jabir, Adi bin Hatim, Abu Ad-Darda, Anas, Aishah, Abdullah bin Amr, Abu Hurairah, Umm Salamah, and Abu Musa. Abu Isa said: The hadith of Abdur-Rahman bin Samurah is Hasan Sahih.

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Qutaybah narrated to us, from Malik bin Anas, from Suhail bin Abi Salih, from his father, from Abu Hurairah, from the Prophet (ﷺ), who said: “Whoever swears an oath and then sees that something else is better should make expiation for his oath and do what is better.” There is also a report on this topic from Umm Salamah. Abu Isa said: The hadith of Abu Hurairah is Hasan Sahih. Most of the people of knowledge among the Companions of the Prophet and others acted on this: expiation before breaking the oath is sufficient. This was the view of Malik bin Anas, Ash-Shafii, Ahmad, and Ishaq. Some scholars said that expiation is made only after breaking the oath. Sufyan Ath-Thawri said: “I prefer that he make expiation after breaking the oath; if he makes expiation before breaking it, that is sufficient.”

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Mahmud bin Ghailan narrated to us: Abdus-Samad bin Abdul-Warith narrated to us; his father and Hammad bin Salamah narrated to me, from Ayyub, from Nafi, from Ibn Umar, that the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) said: “Whoever swears an oath and says, If Allah wills, has made an exception, so he is not liable for breaking it.” There is also a report on this topic from Abu Hurairah. Abu Isa said: The hadith of Ibn Umar is Hasan. Ubaidullah bin Umar and others narrated it from Nafi, from Ibn Umar, as a statement of Ibn Umar rather than attributing it to the Prophet. It was likewise narrated from Salim, from Ibn Umar, in that form. We know of no one who attributed it to the Prophet except Ayyub As-Sakhtiyani. Ismail bin Ibrahim said that Ayyub sometimes attributed it to the Prophet and sometimes did not. Most scholars among the Companions of the Prophet and others held that when the exception is made together with the oath, there is no liability for breaking it. This was the view of Sufyan Ath-Thawri, Al-Awzai, Malik bin Anas, Abdullah bin Al-Mubarak, Ash-Shafii, Ahmad, and Ishaq.

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Yahya bin Musa narrated to us: Abd al-Razzaq narrated to us; Mamar informed us, from Ibn Tawus, from his father, from Abu Hurairah, that the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) said: “Whoever swears an oath and says If Allah wills has not broken it.” Abu Isa said: I asked Muhammad bin Ismail about this, and he said: “This hadith is erroneous. Abd al-Razzaq made a mistake in it; he abridged it from the report of Mamar, from Ibn Tawus, from his father, from Abu Hurairah, from the Prophet (ﷺ), who said: Sulayman bin Dawud said, I will surely go to my wives tonight, and each woman will bear a boy. He went to them, but none of them gave birth except one woman, who bore half a boy. The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) then said: Had he said If Allah wills, it would have happened as he said.” This is how the full report was transmitted from Abd al-Razzaq, from Mamar, from Ibn Tawus, from his father, with the wording seventy women. This hadith has also been transmitted through other routes from Abu Hurairah, from the Prophet (ﷺ), who said that Sulayman bin Dawud said: I will surely go to my wives tonight, specifying one hundred women.

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Qutaybah narrated to us: Sufyan narrated to us, from Az-Zuhri, from Salim, from his father, that the Prophet (ﷺ) heard Umar saying, “By my father! By my father!” He said: “Allah forbids you to swear by your fathers.” Umar said: “By Allah, I have not sworn by him since then, either deliberately or by reporting someone else.” There are also reports on this topic from Thabit bin Ad-Dahhak, Ibn Abbas, Abu Hurairah, Qutailah, and Abdur-Rahman bin Samurah. Abu Isa said: The hadith of Ibn Umar is Hasan Sahih. Abu Isa said: Abu Ubaid explained the words “or by reporting someone else” to mean: I did not quote it from anyone else; that is, I did not mention it from anyone else.

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Hannad narrated to us: Abdah narrated to us, from Ubaidullah bin Umar, from Nafi, from Ibn Umar, that the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) came upon Umar while he was among a group of riders and swearing by his father. The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) said: “Allah forbids you to swear by your fathers. Whoever swears an oath should swear by Allah or remain silent.” Abu Isa said: This hadith is Hasan Sahih.

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Qutaybah narrated to us: Abu Khalid Al-Ahmar narrated to us, from Al-Hasan bin Ubaidullah, from Sad bin Ubaidah, that Ibn Umar heard a man say, “No, by the Kaabah!” Ibn Umar said: “One must not swear by anything other than Allah, for I heard the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) say: Whoever swears by anything other than Allah has committed disbelief or shirk.” Abu Isa said: This hadith is Hasan. Some scholars explained the words “has committed disbelief or shirk” as a severe warning. Evidence for this interpretation includes the hadith of Ibn Umar, in which the Prophet (ﷺ) heard Umar say, “By my father!” and said: “Allah forbids you to swear by your fathers.” It also includes the hadith of Abu Hurairah, from the Prophet (ﷺ): “Whoever says Lat and Uzza in his oath should say: There is no god but Allah.” Abu Isa said: This is like the report from the Prophet (ﷺ) that he said: “Showing off is shirk.” Some scholars explained this verse in the same way: “Whoever hopes to meet his Lord, let him do righteous deeds,” completing the verse; that is, let him not show off.

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Abd al-Quddus bin Muhammad Al-Attar Al-Basri narrated to us: Amr bin Asim narrated to us, from Imran Al-Qattan, from Humayd, from Anas, who said: A woman vowed to walk to the House of Allah. The Prophet of Allah was asked about this and said: “Allah has no need of her walking. Tell her to ride.” There are also reports on this topic from Abu Hurairah, Uqbah bin Amir, and Ibn Abbas. Abu Isa said: The hadith of Anas is Hasan Sahih Gharib through this route. Some scholars acted on this and said: If a woman vows to walk, she should ride and offer a sheep as sacrifice.

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Abu Musa, Muhammad bin Al-Muthanna, narrated to us: Khalid bin Al-Harith narrated to us: Humayd narrated to us, from Thabit, from Anas, who said: The Prophet (ﷺ) passed by an elderly man who was struggling along between his two sons. He asked: “What is the matter with him?” They said: “Messenger of Allah, he vowed to walk.” He said: “Allah, Mighty and Sublime, has no need of this man punishing himself.” Then he ordered him to ride.

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Muhammad bin Al-Muthanna narrated to us: Ibn Abi Adi narrated to us, from Humayd, from Anas, that the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) saw a man and mentioned a similar report. This hadith is Hasan Sahih.

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Qutaybah narrated to us: Abdul-Aziz bin Muhammad narrated to us, from Al-Ala bin Abdur-Rahman, from his father, from Abu Hurairah, who said: The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) said: “Do not make vows, for a vow does not avert anything decreed; it only extracts something from the miser.” There is also a report on this topic from Ibn Umar. Abu Isa said: The hadith of Abu Hurairah is Hasan. Some scholars among the Companions of the Prophet and others acted on this and disliked making vows. Abdullah bin Al-Mubarak said that the disapproval of vows applies to vows concerning obedience and disobedience. If someone vows to perform an act of obedience and fulfills it, he is rewarded for it, but making the vow is disliked.

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Ishaq bin Mansur narrated to us: Yahya bin Said Al-Qattan informed us, from Ubaidullah bin Umar, from Nafi, from Ibn Umar, from Umar, who said: I said, “Messenger of Allah, during the pre-Islamic era I vowed to observe itikaf for one night in the Sacred Mosque.” He said: “Fulfill your vow.” There are also reports on this topic from Abdullah bin Amr and Ibn Abbas. Abu Isa said: The hadith of Umar is Hasan Sahih. Some scholars followed this hadith and said that if a man accepts Islam while owing a vow to perform an act of obedience, he should fulfill it. Some scholars among the Companions of the Prophet and others said that itikaf is only valid with fasting. Other scholars said that a person observing itikaf is not required to fast unless he has made fasting obligatory upon himself. They cited the hadith of Umar: he had vowed during the pre-Islamic era to observe itikaf for one night, and the Prophet (ﷺ) instructed him to fulfill it. This was the view of Ahmad and Ishaq.

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Ali bin Hujr narrated to us: Abdullah bin Al-Mubarak and Abdullah bin Jafar informed us, from Musa bin Uqbah, from Salim bin Abdullah, from his father, who said: The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) would often swear with these words: “No! By the Turner of hearts.” Abu Isa said: This hadith is Hasan Sahih.

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Qutaybah narrated to us: Al-Layth narrated to us, from Ibn Al-Had, from Umar bin Ali bin Al-Husain bin Ali bin Abi Talib, from Said bin Marjanah, from Abu Hurairah, who said: I heard the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) say: “Whoever frees a believing slave, Allah will free from the Fire a limb for each of the slaves limbs, until He frees his private part in return for the slaves private part.” There are also reports on this topic from Aishah, Amr bin Abasah, Ibn Abbas, Wathilah bin Al-Asqa, Abu Umamah, Uqbah bin Amir, and Kab bin Murrah. Abu Isa said: This hadith of Abu Hurairah is Hasan Sahih Gharib through this route. Ibn Al-Had was named Yazid bin Abdullah bin Usamah bin Al-Had. He was a trustworthy Medinan, and Malik bin Anas and several other scholars narrated from him.