Yemîn
(oath) means strength. It indicates strength in a statement, intention or
desire to do or not to do something. Also, the words “half”, “hilf”, and
“qasem” can be used instead of “yemîn.” There are three kinds of yemîn:
1 - Ghaműs oath, [which causes
sin and going to Hell]. It is to knowingly swear a false, lying oath on something
in the past. It is a grave sin. In order to repent, tawba and istighfâr are
necessary, but not kaffârat.
2 - Mun’aqida oath. It is to
swear an oath to do or not to do something in future. There are three types. In
all three types, breach of the oath necessitates kaffârat. But kaffârat is not
paid before the breach:
A)
There is no given time. If a person swears that he will beat Ahmad, the oath is
not broken if he does not beat him as long as both are alive. The oath is
broken when either one dies. For, when he swears that he will beat Ahmad, it
does not become wâjib for him to do it till his death. If he swears that he
will not beat Ahmad and does not beat him till after his death, the oath
eternally will never be broken. For, in this case it immediately becomes wâjib
for him not to beat Ahmad. The oath is broken if he beats him once. He pays
kaffârat, and the oath expires. If he beats him a second time he does not pay
kaffârat again.
B) The
time is appointed. If he breaks the oath before the time comes, kaffârat
becomes necessary. The oath is not broken if he dies before the appointed time
comes.
C) The
oath which is made dependent upon a condition. It is to make the fulfilment of
one’s oath dependent on one’s or someone else’s doing something. It is to swear
to something else by saying, “If you do this...,” in order to prevent oneself
or someone else from doing something intended, or by saying, “If you don’t...,”
in order to get someone sitting to do something. This oath’s being sahîh
(valid) requires in the first case the person’s doing it at once (if the time
has not been appointed) or by the appointed time (if the time has been
appointed) and in the second case the person’s not doing it or being unable to
do it. If the person in the first is incapable of doing what is to be done the
oath does not become sahîh. If the time has not been appointed and if he (the
browbeaten person) gives up doing it first and then intends a second time and
does it, the oath becomes sahîh in the second case. But it does not become
sahîh in the first case. When
a person says to another, “I swear (by
Allah) that I will beat you if you don’t leave this place and come home”, if
the latter stands up immediately, goes to the toilet, puts on his clothes, goes
home, then comes back to the former place to get his key and then goes home
again, the former’s oath does not become sahîh. For, these things done by the
latter are not considered as matters delaying going home. So it is not
necessary for the former to beat him. If the husband says to the wife who is
getting ready to go out, “You will be divorced if you go out,” and if she first
gives up going out and then gets ready again and goes out later, she will not
be divorced. If a man who attempts to beat his child is told, “I swear (by
Allah) that I will not speak with you any more if you beat the child!” and if
the man sits for a while and then beats the child, it is not necessary for the
swearer not to speak with him any more. If a person asks another to stay and
eat with him and if the latter swears that he will not eat with him and leaves
the place, saying, “If I eat with you...,” the oath will lapse when he comes
back and they eat together.
3 - Laghw [vain] oath. It is to
swear an oath mistakenly by making a wrong guess on something in the past. This
does not put one into a sinful state; nor does it entail kaffârat.
In all
three kinds, making or violating an oath because of forgetfulness or under
duress is like making or violating it knowingly and willingly.
For a
mun’aquida oath to be sahîh its fulfilment must be possible mentally and
actually. If a certain period of time is appointed, fulfilment of the oath
should be possible until the end of the appointed time. For, fulfilment of the
oath becomes wâjib at the end of the appointed time. It is sinful to swear for
something impossible. When a person says to another, “I swear (by Allah) that I
will give you your due tomorrow morning,” the oath will not become sahîh if
either one of them dies before morning. For, it is impossible to fulfil the
oath by the appointed time. When a person swears, “Today I will drink up the
water in this large jug,” the oath will not be sahîh if there is no water in
the jug or if the water is poured out before the day is over. If he has not
appointed a time, his oath will not be sahîh if there is no water in the jug;
but if the water which is in the jug is poured out after the oath, the oath
will be sahîh and will have been violated, and kaffârat will be necessary,
because he has not drunk it. For, though fulfilment of an oath for which there
is no appointed time becomes wâjib when one is about to die, it is wâjib to do
it
whenever one can, because at the time of
death it will be very difficult to fulfil it, or to pay kaffârat or will the
payment of kaffârat if one cannot fulfil it.
If a person swears that he will ascend to the sky or that he will
change a certain piece of stone into gold, he becomes hânith (a perjurer) and
pays kaffârat, because he cannot do it. For, though science cannot do these two
things yet, they are not impossible mentally. As angels can and some prophets did ascend to the sky, so the atoms that make
up a piece of stone can change into atoms of gold.
While explaining the talâq (divorce), Ibni
Âbidîn says, “If a person swears, ’May everything which is halâl for
me be harâm if I do such and such a thing,’ twice for two different things, his
wife becomes divorced once when he does the first thing. And when he does the
second thing she becomes divorced a second time. For, his wife’s not being in
his nikâh as he does the second thing does not affect his second oath from
being sahîh. Because she was in his nikâh when he swore the second oath, his
second oath became sahîh.”
It is written in the books Multaqâ
and Durr-ul-mukhtâr, “There are three
different ways of making an oath: By the names of Allâhu ta’âlâ, by making
something that causes disbelief depend on a condition, and by making a divorce
certain [by saying, ‘May I be divorced from my wife if...’]. Making an oath by
using the names of Allâhu ta’âlâ is done either by letters or by words. If one
of the prefixes “b”, “tâ”, and “wa” is added at the beginning and the “esre”[1] is added at the end of the name, it becomes an
oath. An oath can be made only with the names of Allâhu ta’âlâ. A Muslim’s oath
cannot be made by other things. When making an oath by one of the names of
Allâhu ta’âlâ which can be given to men also, such as Halîm, Alîm, Jewâd, it is
necessary to intend and keep in mind that it is Allah’s name. It is permissible
also to make an oath with some of His attributes which have been traditionally
used in oaths. Like saying, ‘I swear by the Almightiness [Greatness,
Compassionateness] of Allâhu ta’âlâ....” An oath cannot be made with the
Qur’ân, with the Prophet ’salawât-ullâhi aleyhim
ajma’în’, or with Kâ’ba. It is not an oath to swear with one’s honour, e.g. to
say, ‘Upon my honour, I promise,’ or ‘Upon my honour it is the truth.’ It is
harâm to
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[1] The vowel point placed under a consonant to indicate its being followed by “i” in pronunciation, like in “be”.
swear
with one’s life or head. It is an oath to say, ‘I swear by Allah that....” It
is an oath to say, ‘I promise by Allah.’ Also, it is an oath to use the words
“qasem”, “half”, or “yemîn” in one’s promise, whether by using the simple
present tense or present continuous tense in the promise, or to say,
‘Esh-hadu,’ and not to say Allah’s name after it. If one says, “Be it my oath”
or “Be it my vow” or “Be it my promise,” it becomes an oath.
It is
an oath to utter something that causes disbelief, such as to say, ‘You are a
disbeliever, or a Jew, or a Christian, or atheist if you do this,’ or to say
the same in the future tense: ‘You will be....’ The oath becomes broken when
the second person does that thing. If the first person said it with the
intention of an oath he has to pay kaffârat. If he said it because he wanted
the latter to be a disbeliever, he (the sworn person) becomes a disbeliever.
For, a person who gives consent to disbelief becomes a disbilever. He who calls
a Muslim a disbeliever becomes a disbeliever himself, even if he did not mean
it. He who gives a positive answer to a person who calls him a disbeliever,
such as to say, ‘Yes, sir,’ becomes a disbeliever. He should either not answer
it at all or refuse it.
If a
person says, ‘If I enter this room, may it be halâl to take interest, (or may
everything be harâm for me to eat),’ it becomes an oath of the second kind. For
interest is harâm in every religion. It is disbelief to say, ‘May it be halâl.’
And also it is disbelief to say, ‘May everything be harâm,’ because it means:
’May it be harâm to eat and drink such things as bread and water, which are
halâl to eat and drink in every religion.’ If a person utters words that cause
disbelief with the intention of swearing an oath, he will not become a
disbeliever, but he will have sworn.
It is not an oath to say, ‘If you do this, may Allah’s wrath (or curse)
be upon you, (may you be an adulterer, a thief, a wine drinker, an interest
charger or usurer).’ For it is not customary among Muslims to swear by using
these words. It is not an oath to say, ‘May it be a right upon me.’ But it is
an oath to say, ‘For the sake of Allah.’ It means for the right of Allah. It is
an oath to say, ‘I take an oath by Allah.’ It is written in Ibni Âbidîn that if a person stands up to show
reverence to another person passing by him though the latter, upon seeing his
attempt to stand up, deprecates, ‘Don’t, for Allah’s sake,’ nothing is
necessary for the latter, for having said these words. But the former should
respect Allah’s name and should not do the thing which he is adjured not to do.
This comes to mean that a person who has adjured another
not to continue doing or not doing
something has not made an oath. But if he adjures him to begin doing something,
he has made an oath. If the latter does not do it the person who has made the
adjuration will have to pay kaffârat. He who says, ’I swear by my wife’s being
divorced,’ has not made an oath. If a person swears by making his own property
harâm, it does not become harâm. For example, if he says, ‘May my clothes be
harâm for me if...,’ his clothes do not become harâm. But he will have to pay
kaffârat when he uses his clothes. If he says, ‘May everything halâl be harâm
for me if...,’ not only will everything that can be eaten or drunk be harâm for
him when he breaks the oath, but also, if he is married, his wife will get one
divorce, even if he did not intend (to divorce his wife). He will not have to
pay kaffârat also. If he intended to divorce her three times, she would be
divorced three times. So is the case with saying, ‘May my wife be divorced (May
she be harâm for me) if I do this!’ If an unmarried person says, ‘May
everything be harâm if...,’ he has made an oath. If he eats and drinks from his
property after breaking his oath, kaffârat becomes necessary.
If a
person vows something which has the conditions for being vowed, it becomes a
nazr if he is willing to do it when he vows it. It becomes wâjib for him to do
it. For example, if he says, ‘May it be my nazr to fast for one month for
Allah’s sake,’ or, ‘May it be my nazr to fast a month if I find what I have
lost,’ it becomes wâjib for him to fast for a month when he finds the lost
thing. He cannot escape it by paying kaffârat.
If he
makes the nazr depend on a condition which he does not want to do, e.g. if he
says, ‘May it be my nazr to fast for a month if I steal so and so’s purse,’ he
fasts for one month or pays the kaffârat for an oath without having stolen it.
If a person says, ‘Inshâ-Allah,’[1] when making an oath, it will not become an oath.
It
becomes an oath to say, ‘For the Qur’ân’s sake,’ or to put one’s hand on the
Qur’ân, or to point to the Qur’ân and say, ‘For the sake of this.’ For, this
kind of oath has been customary.
It is written in Durr-ul-mukhtâr
that in Shâfi’î Madhhab the lexical meaning of the word expressing the act
which is made dependent on an oath is taken into account. In Mâlikî its meaning
used in the Qur’ân is taken into account. In Hanbalî the meaning
---------------------------------
[1] ‘If Allah wills it to be so.’
intended by the sworn person is taken into
account. And in Hanafî Madhhab its meaning is taken in the sense in which it
has been customary to use it in the concerned country or countries of the time.
For example, when a person swears that he will never get on an animal’s back,
his oath will not be broken if he gets on a man’s back. For, though man is
decribed as Haywân-i-nâtiq (the
reasoning and articulating animal) in dictionaries, it has not been customary
to call man animal. If a person who has sworn that he will not sit on a post
sits on a mountain, his oath will not be broken. The Qur’ân calls mountains
posts, but it has not been customary to call them so. If a person who has sworn
that he will not demolish a house spoils a spider’s web, his oath will not be
broken. For, though a spider’s web is called a house in the Qur’ân, it has been
customary to call it a web. If the sworn person says that when he swore he
thought of the word in its meaning as used in the Qur’ân or as shown in
dictionaries, his statement is to be accepted. But if the word has been used
figuratively, that is, not with its own meaning, his saying that he meant its
customary figurative meaning is not accepted. If a person who has sworn not to
buy anything with fulűs buys something with gold his oath will not be broken.
For, fulűs is the name of the copper coin which has been monetized. He cannot claim
that he meant to say, ‘I will not buy anything.’ Even if it is customary to say
so, the meaning of ‘fulűs’ is clear. Custom cannot change the meaning. If a
person swears that he will not go out through the door and then goes out
through the window or swears that he will not beat with a whip and then beats
with a stick, his oath will not be broken. While explaining things that are
harâm, Ibni Âbidîn says that he who has
sworn that he would not look at someone’s face can look at his image in a
mirror. For, the image is not the person himself but his likeness. [Likewise,
what is heard through a loudspeaker or on the radio is not the human voice, but
its likeness].
He who
has sworn to commit a harâm or not do an act of worship breaks his oath and
then pays the kaffârat.
For
the kaffârat of an oath you manumit a slave. Or you give a set of underwear,
large enough to cover the entire body, to each of ten poor men or women, or
feed ten poor people twice one day. It is also acceptable to feed one poor
person twice a day for ten days. It is not permissible to feed other ten people
the same day for the second time. Therefore, if he feeds twenty poor people in
the morning, he is obliged to feed ten of them in the evening or to give them
the equivalent property of sadaqa-i fitr. It
is not necessary to feed all the poor
people on the same day. He can feed some other ones or former ones the next
day. Also, it is permissible to give a poor person a set of underwear every day
for ten days or to feed him twice a day for ten days or once a day for twenty
days. Also, it is acceptable to give half a sâ’ of wheat or flour or bread to
each of the ten poor people once for one day or to one poor person once a day
for ten days. Material or other property [such as a cloth, a towel, a
handkerchief, socks, meat, rice, underwear, slippers, medicine or religious,
scientific or moral books] or gold or silver money of the same value can be
given, instead. If you give ten days’ amount to one poor person in one day, all
of it will be for one day. If you give hundreds of sâ’ to each of ten poor
individuals in one day, it will still be the kaffârat for one oath. The same is
done for the kaffârat of an oath paid on behalf of a dead person. It is
permissible to make someone your deputy to feed the poor or to give the money
and to pay him the money later. He who cannot do any of these fasts for three
successive days. For each of these fasts he must intend during the previous
night. If a woman begins menstruating before completing the three days of fast,
she does not continue fasting. She fasts for three more days after the
menstruation is over. Kaffârat for Ramadân’s fast is different. It is not
correct to give the kaffârat before the Hins, that is, before breaking the
oath. It is sinful to delay the kaffârat of an oath. It is written in Dâmâd: A separate kaffârat is made for each
(broken) oath. If a person says, “Vallahi verrahmâni verrahîmi, I will not do
such and such a thing,” he will have made three oaths. If he does that thing
three kaffârats will be necessary. It is written in Bedâyi’
and Hindiyya that fulűs [paper money]
can be given in lieu of feeding. It is necessary to intend while giving the
kaffârat.
Rasűlullah ’sall-Allâhu alaihi wa sallam’ stated, “Most tradesmen and market-dealers are fâjir (dissolute,
sinful)!” When he was asked the reason he said, “Their
buying and selling is not halâl. For they sin by swearing and lying very
often.” In another hadîth he states, “A
person who cheats someone out of his property by perjury will find Allâhu
ta’âlâ wrathful on the Resurrection Day.” Please see the second page
of the fifteenth chapter of the third part of the Turkish version. In another
hadîth, “A person with îmân may commit any fault.
But he cannot betray or lie.” In another hadîth, “Lying is permissible in three places: In war
[and also when it is necessary to protect oneself and other Muslims against the
harm of enemies of religion], in passing one
Muslim’s words on to another in
order to reconcile them, and in handling one’s wives.” It is permissible to conceal a Muslim’s
sins, or his hiding place or property from a cruel person. Lying is permissible
(when it is done) in order to prevent a quarrel between two Muslims or between
a wife and a husband, to protect one’s property, to prevent a Muslim’s secret
or fault from being revealed, or to prevent other things like these that are
harâm. It is like eating meat canonically unclean lest one should die.
It is written in Tarîqat-i-Muhammadiyya:
“Our Prophet ’sall-Allâhu alaihi wa sallam’
declared, ‘Perjury is a grave sin.’ He
declared in another hadîth, ‘Hell is the
destination of person who cheats a Muslim out of his rights by perjury.’ Uttering
an oath very often, even if you tell the truth, means to slight the name of
Allâhu ta’âlâ and yemîn. It is utterly loathsome to swear flippantly with such
names. So is the case with swearing in songs, plays, and parties.
If you
break several oaths you have to make a kaffârat for each one. Kaffârat, like
zakât, is worship through property. It is permissible to give your property
through a deputy to the poor. But you have to make a niyya (intention) when
preparing the property or at least before it is given to the poor.”
It is written on the four hundred and seventh page of the book Ibdâ, “A hadîth declares, ‘Do not swear an oath by saying, “Upon my father.” An oath
can be sworn only with Allah’s name.’ Another hadîth, which exists
in Abű Dâwűd, declares, ‘He who swears by his
honour and chastity, which has been entrusted to him (by Allah) is not in our community.’ A hadîth, communicated
by Tirmuzî ‘rahmatullâhi ta’âlâ ’aleyh’, declares, ‘He
who swears with any name other than that of Allah, becomes a disbeliever.’
Oaths sworn by using such expressions as ‘by your father,’ ‘by your life,’ ‘by
your head,’ ‘by Kâ’ba,’ ‘by your (my) honour,’ and ‘by the soil (on the grave)
of such and such a Walî’ have become so widespread.”
It is written in Uyűn-ul-basâir,
“It is not sahîh (valid) for a disbeliever to take an oath or to pay kaffârat.”
Hence, it is understood that adjurations made by disbelievers or renegades are
not sahîh. So it is not necessary to do what they ask you to do by adjuration.
Hadîqa states in its discourse on the
afflictions incurred through speech, “It is not permissible to ask someone for
something mundane by saying, ‘For Allah’s sake.’
It is declared in
a hadîth that such people are accursed.”
As written in Durer wa Ghurer, in the
fifth volume of Ibni Âbidîn, and in Hadîqa, if a Muslim tells you to do something
‘for Allah’s sake,’ it is not necessary to do it, that is, it is not sinful not
to do it. But it is good to do it if it is something mubâh (permitted),
especially if it is Tâ’at (something which you will anyway be rewarded for in
the Hereafter). It is harâm to pray through the right of the Prophet or for the sake of a dead or living Walî. For
no one has any rights upon Allâhu ta’âlâ. This is the ijtihâd of some savants,
but such a prayer is permissible if your intention is: ‘O my Allah! For the
right Thou hast given them....’ For, the forty-seventh âyat of Rűm Sűra
purports, “It has been a right upon Us to help
Believers.” And the twelfth âyat of An’âm Sűra, which purports, “Allâhu ta’âlâ has made it an obligation for Himself to have
compassion for His slaves,” shows that through His compassion and
kindness He has bestowed rights upon His beloved ones. It is written in a fatwâ
of Bezzâziyya that it is permissible to
pray through Prophets or through the Awliyâ
whether they are dead or living. These documentaries clearly show that
Wahhabis’ attack upon the Ahl-as-sunna on these grounds is quite wrong.