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Oaths in Islam
Moazzam March 2, 2009
138 Comments

I have heard a lot of Muslims say “I

swear on my children that .. ” or ” I
swear on my mother .. “. According to
Islam, it is unlawful to take an oath by
anyone except Allah (SWT). You can
only swear by Allah. So, if you want to
take an oath by something then take an
oath by Allah (“I swear by Allah” or
“wallahi” or “wallahi”).

Nafi’ related from ‘Abdullah ibn ‘Umar

that the Messenger of Allah, may Al-
lah bless him and grant him peace,
met ‘Umar ibn al-Khattab while he
was proceeding with a group of riders
and he was swearing by his father. He
said, ‘Allah forbids you from swearing
by your fathers. If someone swears,
should swear by Allah or be silent.”
(Sahih Bukhari – 6270)

What is an oath?

From what I understand (and may Allah

forgive me if I am wrong) an oath (or a
vow) is a promise to do something. It
can be a promise to stay away from
cheese cake or a promise to clean
someone’s backyard. However, just
saying “I will come and clean your
backyard” doesn’t make it an oath. You
have to say “I swear by Allah I will do
such and such” or “I make it obligatory
on myself to keep away from such and
such”.

If someone says “Wallahi I will feed 60

people tomorrow, inshallah”, then what
he said is not a valid oath. “Inshallah”
means “If Allah wills it” so if he didn’t
feed 60 people the next day, then that
just means Allah didn’t will it so he
didn’t feed them. However, this is only
valid if he says inshallah without a long
pause. If someone says “Wallahi I will
feed 60 people tomorrow” then gives a
pause and says inshallah, then he will
have to feed 60 people the next day or
he will have broken his oath.

Conditions for an Oath to be valid:

It has to be taken in Allah’s name or

his attributes. Oaths in the name of
your children, parents, kabah, etc are
not valid.
The one taking the oath must be sane
and mature. Oaths taken by children
are vain.
The oath/vow is not on something
impossible. If you say “I swear I will
grow wings on my back and fly” then
it won’t be a valid oath.
“Inshallah” is not used in it. If
someone says “wallahi I will travel to
Syria tomorrow inshallah” then it is
not a valid oath and the person who
said it won’t have to atone for not
traveling to Syria the next day.

If you take an oath, you MUST fulfil it.

And, you should never take a false oath
with Allah as a witness. It is one of the
major sins in Islam. Quoted below are
some proofs :

Do not make your oaths a means of de-

ceiving one another or your foot wi" slip
a#er it was firmly placed and you wi"
taste evil for barring access to the Way of
A"ah and you wi" have a terrible punish-
ment.” (16:92) Dakhalan means deceit
and treachery.

6298. Ash-Sha’bi related from ‘Abdul-

lah ibn ‘Amr that the Prophet*, may
Allah bless him and grant him peace,
said, “The major wrong actions
are shirk with Allah, disobeying
parents, murder and false
oaths.”

“Those who se" A"ah’s contract and their

own oaths for a paltry price, such people
wi" have no portion in the Next World,
and on the Day of Rising A"ah wi" not
speak to them or look at them or purify
them. They wi" have a painful punish-
ment.” (3:77)

Atonement for Breaking an Oath:

If you vow to do something and you

don’t, then you have to atone for it
(kaffarah). You can do so by :

Feed 10 people in need. They cannot

be from his usul upwards (parent,s
grandparents, etc) or downwards
(chlildren, grandchildren, etc). You
can’t feed one person 10 times. It has
to be 10 different people and they all
have to be fed on the same day
Clothing 10 people in need. The same
rules as above apply.
Freeing a slave.

If you cannot do any of the above

because you are poor, then you can fast
for 3 days. In hanafi fiqh, they have to be
3 continuous days. If you fasted the first
day but didn’t fast the second and third
day then you have to start over again.

A"ah does not take you to task for your

inadvertent oaths, but He wi" take you to
task for oaths you make intentiona"y.The
expiation in that case is to feed ten poor
people with the average amount you feed
your family, or clothe them, or $ee a slave.
Anyone without the means to do so should
fast three days. That is the expiation for
breaking oaths when you have sworn
them. Keep your oaths. In this way A"ah
makes His Signs clear to you, so that hope-
fu"y you wi" be thankful.(5:89)

What should you do if you break

an oath more than once?

A lot of people have asked what should

they do if they took an oath and broke it
more than once so I decided to include
this question in this post.

Let’s say you took an oath to pray one

nafl prayer every night. And, you you
didn’t pray a nafl prayer in the night after
that, then you would have to give
kaffarah for it once. Now, the oath is
broken so if you didn’t pray nafl on any
night after that, you would not have to
give kaffarah.

However, if you took an oath to pray nafl

every night and didn’t pray it one night
after that (which broke your oath), then
took another oath that you will pray nafl
prayer every night and broke your oath
again, then you would have to give
kaffarah twice. Why? because you broke
two oaths.

What about taking an oath on the

Qur’an, or Ka’bah or the like

A lot of people have asked me what they

should do if they took an oath on Ka’bah
or Qur’an or their mother, etc. Taking an
oath on anything other than Allah is
haram. So, you are not allowed to swear
on your mother. However, taking an
oath on the Qur’an is a bit more
complicated than that. Please refer to
the link below regarding this issue.

http://spa.qibla.com/issue_view.asp?
HD=1&ID=2847&CATE=32

I have tried to keep this post as brief as

possible so it has some details missing.
If you would like to read more on this
topic then below are a few links which
will help you :

http://qa.sunnipath.com/issue_view.asp?
HD=1&ID=2847&CATE=32
http://qa.sunnipath.com/issue_view.asp?
HD=1&ID=4028&CATE=12
http://qa.sunnipath.com/issue_view.asp?
HD=3&ID=13328&CATE=389
http://qa.sunnipath.com/issue_view.asp?
HD=1&ID=3353&CATE=12

Moazzam March 2, 2009

Islam, Uncategorized

Published by Moazzam Moazzam

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Join the Conversation

138 Comments

Mahmud
February 21, 2017 at 2:05 am

Assalamualaikum. I am trying everyday to be

a better Muslim. As part of that effort I
need your advise on this aspect.

Once I was talking to my wife and she made

me taking a oath that I won’t talk about a
specific topic ever in my life with her. Next
day she started talking about that same spe-
cific topic and I reminded her about my
oath. Then she gave me permission and
asked me: first ask for forgiveness to Allah
before talking about that topic again.

In this case is it valid to break/withdraw an

oath after asking forgiveness to Allah and
with the permission from the person I took
the oath for? Do I have to do Kaffara in this
case?

Moazzam
March 10, 2017 at 10:45 am

Walaikum assalam Mahmud,

If she gave you permission to disregard your

oath, then you don’t need to seek forgiveness
or pay any kaffarah to the best of my
knowledge.

Zubair
April 7, 2017 at 1:35 pm

Asalamualikum, few days ago my father was

angry on me and he told me take oath of
him,I was scared and took the oath, the oath
was that I should not specific game in my
phone which made me addicted to it and, I
was getting distracted from my studies , now
when I asked my father he allowed me to
play will, it be a kaffarah? I did know about
the oath , which can be only taken for Allah!
I took oath oh my father ! Will it be kaffarah
!! N will I be in kaffar even if my father al-
lowed me to play the game!
Jazakallah!!

admin
May 1, 2017 at 11:55 pm

Walaikum assalam Zubair,

An oath upon your father is not valid (and it

is not allowed). You don’t have to pay the
kaffarah in your case.

If your father asks you to take another oath

on him, then let him know it is not permissi-
ble to do that . Oaths are taken only with
Allah as a witness and no one else.

Nadine Haris
June 15, 2017 at 4:42 am

My food addiction has made my life miser-

able I had therapies, prescription, personal
trainers and all that one could do possible to
lose weight.But after losing few pounds i go
back to seeking refuge in food for all my
troubles.ie partner left,lost job,lost business
etc.I took an oath in Qoran that I will lose a
certain amount of weight in a certain period.
But I broke it.I couldnt lose that
weight.Now Im so scared , also my life is get-
ting miserable day by day.have no job etc.I
think its because of the sin.I will do three
fasting but what else can I do to get merci of
God.Im very sad.please advise.

admin
June 18, 2017 at 2:49 pm

Assalamu alaikum Nadine,

I hope this finds you in better spirits and

health. If you broke your oath, you have to
pay the kaffarah. You can find the details in
this blogpost. If you are going to fast, then
that’s all that is needed :). Sin’s do affect a
person in this life and in the next. However,
Allah is the most merciful. Seek his forgive-
ness with sincere heart and make a firm con-
viction that you will never return to any sins
and inshallah he will forgive you.

You may want to consult a doctor for your

food addiction as there seems to be an un-
derlying issue there. UK has free healthcare
so it should be doable for you. Also, do dhikr
as much as possible – while cooking, eating,
walking, etc. Anything that doesn’t require
you to think much, do dhikr while do it for
“Verily, hearts find peace in remembrance of
Allah”

Fatima
August 20, 2017 at 12:20 am

AsalamoAlaikum
One day i was just mad and sitting so i took
an oath but didnt say inshAllah.

I took an oath that i will not talk to this per-

son again.
So basically you wrote if you dont say insh-
Allah, it wont be on me, so it is an oath or
not? Because i didnt say inshaAllah i remem-
ber it well.
Do I have to pay the kaffarah still?
Please guide.

Asma
September 10, 2017 at 10:27 am

Assalam valekum
I put oath on allha
To my husband to go my home otherwise i
am not coming
But he is not agree to go to my native
What does means

Moazzam
September 16, 2017 at 5:04 pm

Walaikum assalam Asma,

I don’t completely understand your question

but I think this is what you are asking.

If you take an oath saying you will do some-

thing and you break it, then you have to pay
the kaffarah.

Meena
September 18, 2017 at 8:02 pm

I need help. Last year I lost my father and

when I saw my mother getting slightly sick I
made a promise to Allah swt that I won’t
talk to a specific individual and may HE swt
bless my mom with health and happiness.
And my mother is good AlhumdulilAllah.
But I have talked to that person. I shouldn’t
have but I was weak. And I talked to that
person more than once and I don’t believe I
can avoid it in future as well. What should I
do as a kafara? I will be fasting for three con-
secutive days asa I can IA. I have provided a
family with food supplies. And I plan on
feeding around 60 people at a famous darbar
In a day or two IA . Please tell me does this
affects my moms well being. I’m paranoid
and lost all peace with in. Plz help me .
JazakAllah.

Abdullahi yasiin
October 20, 2017 at 2:35 pm