- If you promise Allah something although you know you will not be able to keep it, this is a bad situation which is sinful and has a responsibility.
However, for example the moment you say you will not commit a sin or make a mistake, if you are really sincere about it, then this is penitence and regret, which are good deeds. Committing the same sin again is of course a sin, but it is not another sin due to the unbroken promise he gave Allah before.
- However, if the promise we give is about abstaining from haram (illicit things), refraining from a sin, doing this sincerely is a duty. We will do this and we will beg Allah for His help so as not to do it again. To be able to keep this, it is important to prefer an environment or friends away from the sin in question.
If our promise is not about abstaining from haram, but doing a good deed or something licit or some deeds that are makruh tanzihi, we should avoid giving such promises as much as possible because Satan and evil commanding soul will do their best to move our senses and motives related to the sin we repent. The fact that “forbidden things are charming” originates from this reality.
May Allah save us all from every kind of sins, from big ones and small ones and may He take us under His protection. Amin!
Since such a statement is not regarded as an oath, kaffarah is not necessary.
In our daily lives, most of us swear in order to strengthen what we say or to convince our addressees who hesitate to believe.
It is permissible for a Muslim to swear (to vow) in order to strengthen what he says or to convince his addressee.
As a matter of fact, God Almighty swears in many places in the Quran. One of them is as follows:
“Now I do call to witness the Lord of all points in the East and the West that We can certainly Substitute for them better (men) than they; And We are not to be defeated (in Our Plan).”1
On the other hand, when the Prophet (pbuh) wanted to say something, he would often start by saying, “I swear by Allah in whose hand of power Muhammad’s life is” or “I swear by Allah who changes hearts”.
However, a Muslim should consider some issues when he swears lest he should make a mistake and commit a sin.
It is permissible to swear only by using the names of Allah like saying “Wallahi, Billahi, Tallahi” or “I swear by Rahman, I swear by Rahim” or “I swear by divine power” or “I swear by divine excellence”.
It is not permissible to swear by the names of others like the Prophet (pbuh) and the Kaaba. It is not permissible to swear by saying “By the head of my father” or “I will see the dead body of my son” either, that is, to swear by the head or life of a created being.
As a matter of fact, the Prophet expresses this fact as follows in a hadith:
“Do not swear by your fathers, or by your mothers, or by rivals to Allah; and swear by Allah only, and swear by Allah only when you are speaking the truth.”2
On the other hand, statements like “I swear, I witness, by God Almighty, I swear by myself and, I take an oath by myself” are regarded as oaths.
In addition, rendering something halal as haram like saying “Let it be haram for me to eat this meal” is also regarded as an oath.
If somebody swears by saying, “Let me be an unbeliever if I do this or that” “Let me be a Jew or a Christian,” “Let me be not be a slave of Allah, a member of the ummah of Muhammad (pbuh),” “Let Allah remove my soul as an unbeliever”, his intention is taken into consideration. If he utters those statements only for the sake of an oath and to make his belief strengthen his claim, it is regarded as an oath. However, if he believes that he will be an unbeliever with that statement, it is not regarded as an oath. This person has to renew his belief through repentance and asking for forgiveness and to renew his marriage if he is married. Besides, a Muslim who knows how the Prophet (pbuh) swore will avoid taking such inappropriate oaths.
If a person says, “Let me punished or damned by God Almighty if I do this or that” or “Let me be a thief and an adulterer”, he is not regarded to have taken an oath. However, such statements do not fit Islamic manners. Muslims should avoid uttering such statements. If they utter them by mistake, they should repent and ask for forgiveness.
Kaffarah is not necessary for a person who says “By the Quran, I will not do this or that” and does that thing. It is necessary for that person to repent and ask for forgiveness. However, according to a view, such an oath is valid since the Quran is the word of God Almighty. In that case, it is necessary to avoid such statements in terms of caution.
On the other hand, the statement “Let my mother be my wife” uttered in some regions of our country for strengthening one’s words is not appropriate. It is very bad and contrary to Islamic ethics.
Footnotes:
1 al-Maarij, 40 - 41.
2 Abu Dawud, Ayman wan-Nudhur: 5.
(see Mehmed PAKSU, Aileye Özel Fetvalar)
In fact, an oath can be sworn only by saying the names of Allah Almighty, like wallahi, billahi, tallahi. It is not regarded an oath to say for the Quran, for the Prophet, for the Kaaba, etc.
However, it is accepted as an oath to say for the right of the Mushaf (Quran) or to say for the right of this by putting one’s hand on the Mushaf as it is customary. Saying “Let the Quran strike me” and saying “May Allah be my witness” are also considered as an oath.
If you want to divorce your husband due to these faults, do not go to his house; you can expiate for your oath:
The expiation of the oath, respectively, is to give fitrah (alms) to ten poor people or to one poor person every day on ten separate days, or to feed or clothe ten poor people in the morning and in the evening. Those who cannot afford it have to fast for three days on end.
The expiation and the order are stated in the Quran. (al-Maida, 5/89)
According to a narration, Asharis wanted a mount from the Prophet (pbuh). The Messenger of Allah said, "By Allah, I will not allow you to ride a mount; there is no mount with me that I can make you ride." said. However, later on, some camels obtained as booty were brought to the Prophet. Thereupon, the Prophet asked, “Where are Asharis?” When we went to the Prophet, he ordered some camels from the booty to given to us.
We said, "O Messenger of Allah! We asked mounts from you before but you swore that you would not give us any mounts. Have you forgotten it?" He said, "I have not made you mount the camels now; Allah has done it. Doubtlessly if I swear an oath - by Allah's permission - and see something better than it, I will definitely do that better deed and pay atonement for the oath.” (Buhari, al-Khumus, 15; Muslim, h.no: 4354)
- There is no expression that the Messenger of Allah (pbuh) was "angry" in this narration of the hadith (Bukhari and Muslim). However, in another narration by Bukhari and Muslim, it is stated that Asharis went to the Messenger of Allah "at a time when he was angry".
- As far as we can see, there is nothing related to "ineffective oath" in this hadith narration - whether there was anger or not.
Ineffective oath is an oath sworn by mistake or with the thought of something being true. For example: If a person who is in debt says, "By Allah, I have paid my debt" thinking that he has paid his debt though he has not paid, it is an ineffective oath and hence there is no need for atonement.
Likewise, an oath that is accidentally sworn out of will without the intention of oath is such an oath and no atonement is necessary.
- We could not find any information in the explanations of the hadith that this oath was an ineffective oath due to anger. (see Nawawi, al-Minhaj, Ibn Hajar, Fathul-Bari, the explanation of the hadith in question)
- We could not find any information in Muslim that the Prophet (pbuh) did not pay atonement for the oath he swore out of anger. However, there are several sound hadith narrations, mainly in Bukhari and Muslim, like the following:
“If a person swears an oath about a deed and then sees something better than it, he should break his oath, do that good deed and pay atonement for breaking his oath.”
- We could not find any information in Islamic fiqh sources that an oath with the element of "anger" was an ineffective oath and that there was no atonement for it.
