Ibni Âbidîn (rahmatullâhi ’aleyh) says in the chapter
about the oath, in the third volume, and at he end of the chapter about the
fast, in the second volume of the explanation of Durr-ul-mukhtâr:
Nazr,
that is, adaq (vow), is a kind of worship. Nazr is performed only for Allâhu
ta’âlâ. It is not performed for men. There are two kinds of vowing: absolute
nazr, and conditional nazr.
1 -
Absolute nazr is, for example, to say, “I shall fast for one year for the sake
of Allâhu ta’âlâ.” It is not dependent upon a condition. It becomes wâjib to
fulfil it, even if one did not mean it while saying it or it slipped out
inadvertently during a conversation. For, in matters of talâq (divorce) and
nazr, uttering without an intention or thought is like uttering seriously and
intentionally. In fact, if one inadvertently says, “...to fast for a month..,”
instead of saying, “Let it be a debt upon me to fast for a day for Allahu
ta’âlâ,” it becomes necessary for one to fast for a month.
Nazr
is an act of worship. For, namâz, fasting, going on hajj, manumiting a slave,
and other kinds of worship can be vowed. The Sharî’a commands the fulfilment of
the nazr. It is sinful not to fulfil it. Nazr is like taking an oath. If a
person says, “Let it be my nazr,” without naming the thing vowed and without
intention, it becomes necessary for him to pay the kaffârat prescribed for an
oath. If a person says, “I will fast for Allah’s sake,” without mentioning the
number of days of the fast and without intending for anything, or if he intends
only for a nazr without thinking of whether or not it is an oath, or if he
intends both for a nazr and for an oath, his fasting becomes a nazr, and he
fasts three days. If he intends not for a nazr but for an oath while saying it,
it becomes an oath. If he breaks his fast it becomes necessary for him to pay
the kaffârat (penalty) prescribed for an oath. If he intends both for a nazr
and for an oath, or only for an oath without out the nazr, the fasting becomes
both an oath and a nazr. If he breaks the fast, both qadâ and the kaffârat for
breaking an oath become necessary.
The
thing vowed has to be like one of the kinds of worship which is fard or wâjib
and has to be an act of worship by itself. For example, making an ablution or
shrouding the dead, which are not acts of worship by themselves, cannot be a nazr.
Visiting the ill, carrying the dead Muslims to their graves, making a ghusl,
entering mosques, holding the Qur’ân,
calling the adhân, building schools, building mosques are within the area of
worship, too. But none of them is an act of worship by itself. They cannot be
vowed. The fard or wâjib which the vowed thing has to be like does not have to
be an act of worship by itself. For example, it is permissible to vow donating
something to a pious foundation. For, donating something to a pious foundation
is like building a mosque for Muslims. Building a mosque is not an act of
worship by itself, but donating to a pious foundation is an act of worship by
itself. For example, making an ablution is not an act of worship by itself, but
it is a condition (to be fulfilled for the acceptability) of namâz, which is an
act of worship by itself. Likewise, shrouding a dead Muslim is a condition for
the acceptability of the namâz of janâza. The satr-i-awrat of the dead is a
condition of the namâz of janâza.
One
has to fulfil the absolute nazr immediately, even if one is poor. If the state
of death is felt before one has fulfilled it, one has to add fulfilment of
kaffârat to one’s will. It is also permissible to delay it without a good
excuse. When fulfilling the nazr, one does not have to fulfil also the things
which one has designated to do. For example, if one has vowed to give a certain
amount of money to a particular poor person at a certain place and time, or to
perform the namâz at a certain place, one does not have to observe these
particulars. Yet one cannot change the vowed amount. However, if one vowes to
give gold coins to a certain poor person at a certain place for Allah’s sake,
one will have to give them to that particular poor person. For, one’s not
appointing the (number of) gold coins or the (amount of) property one is going
to give shows that one wants to appoint the poor person.
2 - Conditional vow. When the condition one has desired occurs one has
to fulfil the nazr. [It is written in Fatâwâ-i-khayriyya
that it is permissible to pay the kaffârat prescribed for an oath instead of
fulfilling the nazr. It is written at the end of the chapter about fasting in
the marginal notes titled Imdâd by
Tahtâwî (rahmatullâhi ta’âlâ ’aleyh), “It is deduced from âyats and hadîths
that nazr is permissible. If one has made the nazr depend upon the occurrence
of a condition one desires, one will have to fulfil the nazr when the condition
one has stipulated occurs. If one has stipulated a condition one does not desire
to occur, when the condition one does not desire occurs one fulfils the nazr if
one likes, if the nazr is hajj, fasting, alms, or
supererogatory namâz. If one does not want
to fulfil the nazr of this kind, one may pay the kaffârat for an oath instead.
For example, if one says, “May it be my nazr to give a hundred pounds as alms
for Allah’s sake if I ever speak to Alî again,” and then speaks to Alî, he has
a choice between giving the alms or paying the kaffârat prescribed for an oath.
But if one has said, “May my wife be divorced...,” one will have divorced one’s
wife when one speaks to Alî, and it will not be permissible to pay the kaffârat
for an oath. It is not permissible to fulfil the nazr dependent upon a
condition before the condition occurs. For example, if one has said, “May it be
my nazr to give so and so much money as alms for Allah’s sake and present the
thawâb for it to the soul of Hadrat Sayyed Ahmad Bedevî if my such and such ill
relative recovers,” it is not permissible to fulfil the nazr before the ill
person recovers. One has to fulfil it after the ill person recovers. Like in
the former case, when fulfilling the dependent nazr it is not necessary to
fulfil the specifications one has made as to time, identity of the poor person,
number of the poor people, or kind of money. The dependent nazr shouldn’t be
fulfilled in return for the occurrence of the stipulated condition. It should
be fulfilled as an act of gratitude to Allâhu ta’âlâ. It is like making the
sajda (prostration) of gratitude to Him].
Necessity of the fulfilment of nazr is declared in Qur’ân al-kerîm and
in hadîths, and there is ijmâ’i-umma on this. The twenty-ninth âyat of Hajj
Sűra declares: “They must fulfil their vows!” It is, therefore, wâjib to fulfil the
nazr. Some (’ulamâ) said that it is fard.
Fasting,
salât [namâz], alms, i’tikâf, manumiting slaves, and hajj, -even by walking-,
can be vowed. For, each of these is an act of worship by itself and is like
either a fard or a wâjib. For example, it is fard to manumit a slave for the
kaffârat of fasting. Going on hajj by walking is fard for those Meccans who
can. The worship here is not walking, but it is the hajj. And i’tikâf is like
the sitting posture in the last rak’at of namâz. As for waqf (donation to a
pious foundation), it is fard for the state to build a mosque for Muslims in
every city by using the funds reserved for this purpose in the Beytulmâl. If
the state does not build it, it becomes fard for Muslims.
When
the nazrs of i’tikâf, hajj, salât, fasting, alms are not dependent, it is
permissible to fulfil them without observing the specifications as to time,
place, identity of the poor, and kind of money. For example, if one vows to
give certain silver coins to a
certain poor person in Mekka, on, let us
say, Friday, it is permissible for one to give other silver coins to another
person at some other place and time instead. It is permissible to perform the
vowed hajj, salât, i’tikâf, or fasting before the time appointed during the
vow. But it will not be acceptable if the number of days is one day less (than
the vowed number). The dependent nazr cannot be fulfilled before the condition
it depends on occurs. One can still make changes as to the poor person (to be
given the alms), place, and kind of money.
If a person
who has made it his nazr to fast every day during the month of Rajab becomes
ill and cannot fulfil it, he will have to make qadâ of his fastings later, as
with Ramadân.
If
something unlike any fard or wâjib is vowed, it is not necessary to fulfil it.
The type of worship it is like has to be a fard-i-ayn. It is not necessary to
fulfil the nazr which is like a fard-i-kifâya. An example of this is visiting a
sick person. Entering a mosque cannot be vowed, though it is fard to enter the
Majid-i-harâm for tawâf (visiting) or to enter a mosque after the imâm for
Friday prayer. For, entering a mosque is not an act of worship by itself, but
it is a part of an act of worship. Though it is fard to help one’s needy
parents, visiting one’s parents cannot be vowed because it is not an act of
worship by itself.
To sum
up, when something is vowed its fulfilment is necessary if it has five
conditions:
I - It
has to belong to the class of a fard-i-ayn or wâjib.
II -
It has to be an act of worship by itself.
III -
It shouldn’t be a sin in itself. It is permissible to vow to fast on the ’Iyd
day of qurbân. For, fasting is not a sin in itself. In this case one will have
to fast some other day. Vowing something which is harâm becomes an oath. It is
sinful to fulfil it. For example, when one vows to kill so and so, one does not
kill so and so, but pays the kaffârat for an oath, instead.
IV -
It is not sahîh to vow to do something which is already fard for one to do. For
example, hajj is already fard for a rich person who vows to become hadji. To
vow to become a hadji is to inform that one is going to make the hajj that is
fard. For, he who makes a supererogatory hajj cannot become a hadji. Because it
is not sahîh to vow the hajj which is fard, in this case it is fard for the rich
person to make hajj only once. It is not necessary for him to go again for the
fulfilment of his vow.
If a
rich person vows to kill a sheep as a qurbân on one of the
days of the ’Iyd of qurbân, he will have
to kill two sheep, one for the vow and the other for the ’Iyd of qurbân. If
this person means the qurbân of the ’Iyd when vowing, he kills only one sheep
as the qurbân. If he vows it before the days of ’Iyd, he will have to kill two,
whatsoever his intention was. For, to mean something which is not yet wâjib for
one to do is not to inform that one is going to do it. Also, if a person who
becomes rich on one of the ’Iyd days, (let us say, on the third day), vowed to
kill a sheep when he was poor on one of the ’Iyd days, (let us say, on the first
day), he has to kill two sheep, for the same reason. For a rich person who has
not become a hadji to vow hajj is similar to a rich person vowing a qurbân on
one of the days of ’Iyd of qurbân. For, performing the hajj, like performing
the qurbân, is of two kinds: performing the hajj which is fard; and performing
the supererogatory hajj. If, when vowing to go on hajj, he does not mean to
become a hadji, that is, to perform the hajj which is fard, he will have to
perform the hajj twice. For, if the person for whom it is wâjib to perform the
qurbân does not mean the wâjib when vowing the qurbân, it will come to mean the
supererogatory qurbân and so the vow will be sahîh. Likewise, if the hajj which
is fard is not meant when vowing to go on hajj, it will come to mean a
supererogatory hajj. So the vow will be sahîh, and the rich person will have to
go on hajj twice, one for the fard, and one for the vow. The case is not so
with vowing for the fast in Ramadân or, for example, vowing noon prayer or
vowing to become a hadji. Only the fard is meant when they are said. They have
no supererogatory forms. Because the person vowing them means only the fard,
the vow is not sahîh. This means to say that something which can be both fard
and supererogatory can be vowed. Its fard form shouldn’t be meant when vowing.
This applies to vowing namâz, fasting, hajj, and qurbân. A person who vows to
fast in Ramadân does not have to fulfil anything. He only fulfills his fast of
Ramadân, which is fard.
It is
permissible for the poor as well as for the rich to vow a qurbân. Qurbân means
a sheep, goat, ox, or camel killed on one of the first three days of the ’Iyd,
which is wâjib for the rich and supererogatory for the poor. A person who has
vowed ten sheep kills ten sheep within the three days of the ’Iyd. If they are
not killed within that time, he gives them alive as alms if he still possesses
them. For, the commandment is to kill only one sheep. That the vowed number is
ten shows that he did not state that he would perform the qurbân which is
wâjib. The vowed qurbân must be performed on one of the certain three days. If
the
animals are killed before these days the
qurbân has not been performed and the nazr has not been performed. If the vowed
qurbân is not performed by the end of the certain three days, its equivalent in
gold or silver or the animal itself is given alive as alms to the poor. If he
kills it after the certain three days (’Iyd days) and gives the meat to the
poor, the value of the meat shouldn’t be less than the value of the animal was
when it was alive. If it is less, he will have to give the difference in money
to the poor. But if a person vows to kill a sheep instead of mentioning the
name of qurbân, he may kill it at any place and at any time he likes, including
the days of the of ’Iyd of qurbân, even if he has appointed the time and the
place.
V -
The thing vowed should be a piece of property, and it shouldn’t be more than
one’s property or belong to someone else. For example, if a person who has a
hundred pounds vows to give a thousand pounds as alms, he will have to give a
hundred pounds. If he vows to give a certain number of gold coins, and then if
he loses the gold coins, the nazr lapses.
It is permissible to vow to read the Qur’ân or to visit the Kâ’ba. It
is permissible to vow to say a certain number of salawâts for our Prophet (sallallâhu alaihi wa sallam), [e.g. to say
the prayer of Delâil-i-khayrât or Jâliyet-ul-ekdâr].
[It is
not permissible to vow a cock by saying, “I will make a qurbân of a cock or
kill a cock for Allah’s sake.” For the cock is not an animal for qurbân. A
person who wants to vow a cock must say, “I will kill a cock and give it to the
poor for Allah’s sake,” and must give the cock, alive or after killing it, to
the poor. Thus, he will have vowed not the qurbân but the alms]. If a person
who has vowed alms has also mentioned its amount, he gives that amount. If he
has not mentioned the amount he pays the kaffârat for an oath, which is to give
half a sâ’ of wheat or its equivalent to each of ten poor people.
When
one’s relative or friend is back from a long journey or when one is visited by
a person whom one loves and respects, it is not permissible to kill an animal
out of joy or reverence to the visitor or for thanks. The animal can be vowed
before or after the arrival of an expected guest, and killed as a vow, that is,
for Allah’s sake; in this case the meat is given to the poor; the rich are not
allowed to eat it. [If one says “qurbân” when vowing the animal, one has to
kill it on the ’Iyd of qurbân]. Also, it is permissible to kill an animal with
the intention of giving a special meal to the expected visitor.
It is permissible to fulfil the absolute nazr before the appointed
time. But it is not sahîh to fulfil the dependent nazr before the desired
condition comes into being. A person who has vowed something as alms can give
something else of the same value or its equivalent. He who has woved to fast in
a certain month has to fast every day in that month, and has to make qadâ of
the omitted days. If he has not appointed the name of the month, he fasts for
one month [thirty days], which he can complete in several months. If a sick
person vows that he will fast for a month for Allah’s sake and then dies before
recovering from his illness, nothing is required. If he recovers even one day
before his death and does not fast on that day, he wills an isqât for the whole
month.
Whether
rich or poor, a person cannot eat from the meat of the animal killed as the
fulfilment of his vow, nor can he give it to people to whom it is not
permissible to give zakât. Nor can he let his parents, children, wife, [or
husband, if the person is a woman], eat from the meat, even if they are poor.
If he should eat or let those people eat from it, he gives the equivalent of
the meat eaten as alms to the poor. Of his relatives and household, whether
young or old, everyone who he is permitted to give his zakât to can eat from
the meat. But the rich ones cannot. If they do, the performer of the vow will
have to give the equivalent of what they have eaten to the poor.
Ibni
’Âbidîn ‘rahmatullâhi ’aleyh’ says at the end of his discourse on zakât for
sheep: In zakât, ’ushr, kharâj, fitra, nazr, and in all kinds of kaffârat
except manumiting slaves, it is permissible to give the equivalent of property
which is not mithlî even if the property itself exists. [Property of zakât can
be given as an equivalent for property of zakât. Other property cannot be
given. Any property can be given for other kinds of property]. It is permissible
to give three fat sheep instead of four thin sheep. For things that are mithlî,
that is, things that can be measured by weight or volume, their equivalent of
the same kind cannot be given. For example, it is not permissible to give four
gold coins of high carat instead of five gold coins of lower carat or four
pounds of good wheat instead of five pounds of wheat of poorer quality. It is
necessary to give the same amount (five gold coins or five pounds of wheat) of
the better quality too. But it is permissible to give their equivalent of some
other kind. For, when goods in whose comparison there is fâidh (interest,
usury) are of different kinds, it is permissible to give less or fewer of the
better ones and more of the poorer ones. In qurbân and in emancipating slaves
equivalents cannot be given. For these two
require shedding blood and rescuing from slavery, not giving property. Only
after the ’Iyd days are over can the equivalent of the animal for qurbân be
given to the poor. A person who has vowed to kill two medium sheep as the
qurbân cannot kill a big ram as the qurbân which is equal to them in value. He
has to kill two. [In lieu of sheep (vowed) the same number of goats can be
killed, and equal number of cattle can be offered in place of camels vowed.
They do not have to be equal in weight or value.] But he who has vowed to give
two medium sheep as alms (to the poor) can give a big ram which is equal to the
two sheep in value. A person who has vowed a tin of low quality dates cannot
give half a tin of good dates which are equal in value. For, when they are of
the same kind, if their amounts are not equal when being changed for each other
the act becomes fâidh. It would be permissible if he gave half a tin of good
barley which is of equal value.
A vow to kill an animal must be for Allah’s sake without any
stipulation. It is permissible to give the meat to the poor and to present the
thawâb for it to a Walî or to an exalted religious person. Then, one must pray
for the realization of one’s wish for the sake of the alms and the Walî (to
whose soul one has presented the thawâb for the alms one has given to the
poor). In other words, one must do one’s vows as exemplified: “If I attain this
wish of mine, I will kill a sheep for Allah’s sake at Eyyűb[1] , give the meat to those poor people who are
neighbors to Hadrat Khâlid[2] , and
present the thawâb to his soul.” An animal vowed
---------------------------------
[1] A district in Istanbul. It is situated alongside the Golden Horn. It embodies the blessed grave of hadrat Khâlid Eyyűb al-Ansârî ‘radiy-Allâhu ta’âlâ anh’, one of the Sahâba. See below.
[2] When the Messenger of Allah completed his painful trek from Mekka and finally arrived in Medina, —the onerous migration has been termed ‘Hijrat’ (Hegira) ever since,— all the Muslims living in Medina met the blessed Prophet at the gate of the holy city, each and every one of them begging the Messenger of Allah to honour his house and be his guest. Lest anyone should be offended, the Prophet said to them, “I shall be the guest of the person in front of whose house my camel kneels down.” The camel, with the blessed Prophet on its back, walked for a while and stopped and knelt down in front of hadrat Khâlid Eyyűb al-Ansârî’s house. So the Prophet stayed in his house. Years later this fortunate Sahabî joined an Islamic expedition and went to Istanbul to conquer the city. Yet the siege ended in failure and he was one of those who attained martyrdom. His blessed grave is at Eyyűb, Istanbul. There is a shrine over his grave and a splendid mosque was built by the shrine. Every day thousands of Muslims visit the shrine and the mosque.
with a
stipulation of this sort cannot be killed before the realization of the wish.
The animal shouldn’t be killed near the grave. Also, our religion does not
permit such things as fastening pieces of cloth or string on tombs or burning
candles on tombs. These things are done by Christians. Candles shouldn’t be
burned on graves. If candles are taken to the poor people who serve the tombs
and who pray there, it will cause thawâb of alms. And this thawâb will be
presented to the dead people there. Dead people do not need candles. A
Believer’s grave is a garden of Paradise. It is in nűrs (haloes). And a
disbeliever’s grave is a ditch of Hell. It is full of torment. Candles will not
rescue him from this torment.
It is written at the end of the chapter about the fast in Durr-ul-mukhtâr: “Ignorant people vow such things
as money and candles for the dead. They want to approach the great Awliyâ and
get benefits from them. These vows are harâm and useless. They should be vowed
for Allâhu ta’âlâ and given to the poor Muslims (serving and worshipping) in
the mausoleums.” While explaining these statements, Ibni
Âbidîn says: “It is harâm to go to the grave of one of the great
Awliyâ and say, ’If you find my lost property, -cure my sick relative, solve my
such and such problem,- I will give this money -or food- for your sake, I will
burn a candle and leave it here for you.’ For, a vow is done only for Allah’s
sake. It is disbelief to expect something from a dead person independently from
Allâhu ta’âlâ. It drives away one’s îmân. [He who goes to a church, sacred
spring, grave or tomb and asks for something from Hadrat Îsâ (Jesus), Mariam
(Mary), or the Awliyâ and prays to them becomes a disbeliever. One should ask
from Allâhu ta’âlâ so that He will give for their sake. Hadrat Abdulhakîm
Arwâsî ‘quddisa sirruh’ used to say that such expressions as “The Grandfather
who gives promptly” are very ugly and cause disbelief]. One should say, ’O my
Allah! I vow that if You cure my sick relative I will give this money to the
poor people living near that Walî’s tomb and present the thawâb to the Walî’s
soul.’ It is harâm for the rich to accept things given in fulfilment of such
vows. Property which is not given as alms to the poor is not acceptable as a
vow. For example, such vows as burning candles on graves, lighting candles (or
lights) on minarets, saying mawlids loudly in mosques like songs and dance music
are not acceptable. It is harâm and useless to pay or take money for such
things.” It is written at the end of ’Uqűd-ud-durriyya
that it is bid’a to use more lights than usual in mosques on sacred nights. The
same is written in the chapter about the
rules concerning a mosque in Eshbâh.
Some people make a vow by saying, “Table of
Zachariah.” They put 40 kinds of fruit on a table, and then they
invite their neighbors and close friends to eat from this table. They expect
that the wishes they make as they eat at these tables will come true. Such a
vow is bid’at. It is a Jewish custom. It is harâm for anyone, except a poor
person, to eat from something that has been vowed. To cause bid’at and harâm is
a grave sin.
It is
permissible to vow to kill an animal when laying a foundation or when one’s
sick relative recovers and then to give the meat as alms to the poor. It
produces thawâb for alms.