22. Oaths and Vows (Kitab Al-Aiman Wa Al-Nudhur)

Narrated Imran ibn Husayn:

The Prophet (ﷺ) said: If anyone swears a false oath in confinement, he should make his seat in Hell on account of his (act).

Narrated Abdullah ibn Mas'ud:

The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) said: He who swears an oath in which he tells a lie to take the property of a Muslim by unfair means, will meet Allah while He is angry with him. Al-Ash'ath said: I swear by Allah, he said this about me. There was some land between me and a Jew, but he denied it to …

Narrated Al-Ash'ath ibn Qays:

A man of Kindah and a man of Hadramawt brought their dispute to the Prophet (ﷺ) about a land in the Yemen. Al-Hadrami said: Messenger of Allah, the father of this (man) usurped my land and it is in his possession. The Prophet asked: Have you any evidence? Al-Hadrami replied: No, but I ma…

Narrated 'Alqamah b. Wa'il b. Hujr al-Hadrami:

On the Authority of his father: A man from Hadramawt and a man of Kindah came to the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ). Al-Hadrami said: Messenger of Allah, this (man) took away forcibly from me the land which belongs to my father. Al-Kindi said: It is my land in my possession, and I cultivate it, he has no ri…

Narrated Jabir ibn Abdullah:

The Prophet (ﷺ) said: One should not take a false oath at this pulpit of mine even on a green tooth-stick; otherwise he will make his abode in Hell, or Hell will be certain for him.

Narrated Abu Hurairah:

The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) as saying: If anyone swears on oath is the course which he says: "By al-Lat" he should say: There is no god but Allah, and that if anyone says to his friend: Come and let me play for money with you, he should give something in charity (sadaqah).

Narrated AbuHurayrah:

The Prophet (ﷺ) said: 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.

Narrated Ibn 'Umar:

The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) found 'Umar al-Khattab in a caravan while he was swearing by his father. So he said: Allah forbids you to swear by forefathers. If anyone swears, he must swear by Allah or keep silence.

The tradition mentioned above has also been transmitted by Ibn 'Umar through a different chain of narrators to the same effect up to the words "by your fathers". This version adds:

" 'Umar said: I swear by Allah, I never swore by it personally or reporting it from others."

Sa'id ibn Ubaydah said:

Ibn Umar heard a man swearing: No, I swear by the Ka'bah. Ibn Umar said to him: I heard the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) say: He who swears by anyone but Allah is polytheist.

Referring to the story of a bedouin, Talhah b. 'Ubaid Allah reported the Prophet (ﷺ) as saying:

He became successful, by his father, if he speaks the truth, he will enter paradise, by his father, if he speaks truth.

Narrated Buraydah ibn al-Hasib:

The Prophet (ﷺ) said: He who swears by Amanah (faithfulness) is not one of us.

Narrated Aisha, Ummul Mu'minin:

The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) said about the futile oath: It is man's speech in his house: No, by Allah, and Yes, by Allah. Abu Dawud said: Ibrahim al-Sa'igh, the narrator of this tradition , was a pious man. Abu Muslim killed him at 'Aranda. When he raised a hammed and heard the call to prayer, he …

Narrated Abu Hurairah:

The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) as saying: Your oath should be about something regarding which your companion will believe you. Musaddad said: 'Abd Allah b. Abi Salih narrated to me. Abu Dawud said: Both of them refer to the same person: 'Abbad b. Abu Salih and 'Abd Allah b. Abi Salih.

Narrated Suwayd ibn Hanzalah:

We went out intending (to visit) the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) and Wa'il ibn Hujr was with us. His enemy caught him. The people desisted from swearing an oath, but I took an oath that he was my brother. So he left him. We then came to the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ), and I informed him that the people desis…

Narrated Thabit bin Adh-Dahhak:

That he took oath of allegiance to the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) under the tree. The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) said: If anyone swears by religion other than Islam falsely, he is like what has has said. If anyone kills himself with something, he will be punished with it on the Day of Resurrection. A vow ov…

Narrated Buraydah ibn al-Hasib:

The Prophet (ﷺ) said: If anyone takes an oath and says: I am free from Islam; now if he is a liar (in his oath), he will not return to Islam with soundness.

Narrated Yusuf ibn Abdullah ibn Salam:

I saw that the Prophet (ﷺ) put a date on a loaf and said: This is a thing eaten with bread (condiments).

A similar tradition has also been transmitted by Yusuf b. 'Abd Allah b. Salam through a different chain of narrators.

Narrated Abdullah ibn Umar:

The Prophet (ﷺ) said: If anyone says when swearing an oath: "If Allah wills," he makes an exception.

Narrated Abdullah ibn Umar:

The Prophet (ﷺ) said: If anyone swears an oath and makes an exception, he may fulfil it if he wishes and break it if he wishes without any accountability for breaking.

Narrated Ibn 'Umar:

The oath which the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) often used was this: No, by Him who overturns the hearts.

Narrated AbuSa'id al-Khudri:

When the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) swore an oath strongly, he said: No, by Him in Whose hand is the soul of AbulQasim.

Narrated AbuHurayrah:

When the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) swore an oath, it was: No, and I beg forgiveness of Allah.

Narrated Laqit ibn Amir:

We came to the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) in a delegation. The Prophet (ﷺ) then said: By the age of thy god.

Narrated Abdullah ibn Abbas:

AbuBakr adjured the Prophet (ﷺ). The Prophet (ﷺ) said: Do not adjure an oath.

Narrated Ibn 'Abbas:

Abu Hurairah narrated that a man came to the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) and said: I had a dream last night, and he then mentioned it. So Abu Bakr interpreted it. The Prophet (ﷺ) said: You are partly right and partly wrong. He then said: I adjure you, Messenger of Allah, may my father be sacrificed on yo…

The tradition mentioned above has also been transmitted by Ibn 'Abbas through a different chain of narrators. In this version there is no mention of the word qasam (oath). It has the words:

"He did not inform him."

Narrated 'Abd al-Rahman b. Abi Bakr:

Some guests visited us, and Abu Bakr was conversing with the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) at night. He (Abu Bakr) said: I will not return to you until you are free from their entertainment and serving them food. So he brought them food, but they said: We shall not eat it until Abu Bakr comes (back). Abu B…

A similar tradition has also been transmitted by 'Abd al-Rahman b. Abi Bakr through a different chain of narrators. This version adds on the authority of Salim:

"Expiation (for breaking the oath) has not reached me."

Sa'id ibn al-Musayyab said:

There were two brothers among the Ansar who shared an inheritance. When one of them asked the other for the portion due to him, he replied: If you ask me again for the portion due to you, all my property will be devoted to the decoration of the Ka'bah. Umar said to him: The Ka'bah does not nee…

Narrated Abdullah ibn Amr ibn al-'As:

The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) said: A vow is binding in those things by which the pleasure of Allah is sought, and an oath to break ties of relationship is not binding.

Narrated Abdullah ibn Amr ibn al-'As:

The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) said: An oath or a vow about something over which a human being has no control, and to disobey Allah, and to break ties of relationship is not binding. If anyone takes an oath and then considers something else better than it, he should give it up, and do what is better, f…

Narrated Abdullah ibn Abbas:

Two men brought their dispute to the Prophet (ﷺ). The Prophet (ﷺ) asked the plaintiff to produce evidence, but he had no evidence. So he asked the defendant to swear. He swore by Allah "There is no god but He." The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) said: Yes, you have done it, but you have been forgiven …

Narrated Abu Burdah:

On the authority of his father that the Prophet (ﷺ) said: I swear by Allah that if Allah wills I shall swear on an oath and then consider something else to be better than it without making atonement for my oath and doing the thing that is better. Or he said (according to another version): But doing the thing that is better and making atonement for my oath.

Narrated 'Abd al-Rahman b. Samurah:

The Prophet (ﷺ) said to me: 'Abd al-Rahman b. Samurah, when you swear an oath and consider something else to be better than it, do the thing that is beter and make atonement for your oath. Abu Dawud said: I heard Ahmad (b. Hanbal) permitting to make atonement before breaking the oath.

A similar tradition has been transmitted by 'Abd al-Rahman b. Samurah through a different chain if narrators. This version has:

"Make atonement for your oath and then do the thing that is better." Abu Dawud said: The version of this tradition transmitted by Abu Musa al-Ash'ari, 'Adi b. Hatim and Abu Hurairah are variant. Some of them indicate breaking the oath before making atonement, and other making atonement before bre…

Narrated Safiyyah bint Huyayy:

Ibn Harmalah said: Umm Habib gave us a sa' and told us narration from the nephew of Safiyyah on the authority of Safiyyah that it was the sa' of the Prophet (ﷺ). Anas ibn Ayyad said: I tested it and found its capacity two and half mudd according to the mudd of Hisham.

Narrated Muhammad b. Muhmmad b. Khattab Abu 'Umar :

We had a makkuk which was called Makkuk Khalid. Its capacity was two measurements according to the measurements of Harun. The narrator said: The sa' of Khalid was the sa' of Hisham b. 'Abd al-Malik.

Narrated Umayyah b. Khalid:

When Khalid al-Qasri was made ruler (of Hijaz and Kufah), he doubled the measure of sa'. The sa' then measured sixteen rotls. Abu Dawud said: Muhammad b. Muhammad b. Khattab was slain by Negroes in confinement. He said while signing with his hand: "in this way". Abu Dawud extended his hand and tur…

Narrated Mu'awiyah b. al-Hakam al-Sulami:

I said: Messenger of Allah, I have a slave girl whom I slapped. This grieved the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ). I said to him: Should I not emancipate her? He said: Bring her to me. He said: Then I brought her. He asked: Where is Allah ? She replied: In the heaven. He said: Who am I ? She replied: You are …

Narrated Ash-Sharid ibn Suwayd ath-Thaqafi:

Sharid's mother left a will to emancipate a believing slave on her behalf. So he came to the Prophet (ﷺ) and said: Messenger of Allah, my mother left a will that I should emancipate a believing slave for her, and I have a black Nubian slave-girl. He mentioned a tradition about the test of the girl. Abu Dawud said: Khalid b. 'Abd Allah narrated this tradition direct from the Prophet (ﷺ). He did not mention the name of al-Sharid.

Narrated Abu Hurairah:

A man brought the Prophet (ﷺ) a black slave girl. He said: Messenger of Allah, emancipation of believing slave is due to me. He asked her: Where is Allah ? She pointed to the heaven with her finger. He then asked her: Who am I ? She pointed to the Prophet (ﷺ) and to the heaven, that is to say: You a…

Narrated Ikrimah ibn AbuJahl:

The Prophet (ﷺ) said: I swear by Allah, I shall fight against the Quraysh; I swear by Allah, I shall fight against the Quraysh; I swear by Allah, I shall fight against the Quraysh. He then said: "If Allah wills." Abu Dawud said: A number of persons have narrated this tradition from Sharik, from Si…

Narrated 'Ikrimah:

The Prophet (ﷺ) as saying: I swear by Allah, I shall fight against the Quraish. The then said: If Allah wills. He again said: I swear by Allah, I shall fight against the Quraish if Allah wills. He again said: I swear by Allah, I shall fight against the Quraish. He then kept silence. Then he said: I…

Narrated 'Abd Allah b. 'Umar:

The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) forbade to make a vow. He said: It has not effect against fate, it is only from the miserly that it is means by which something is extracted. Musaddad said: The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) said: A vow does not avert anything (i.e. has no effect against fate).

Narrated Abu Hurairah:

The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) as saying: A vow does not provide for the son of Adam anything which I did not decree for him, but a vow draws it. A Divine decree is one which I have destined, it is extracted from a miser. He is given what he was not given before.

Narrated 'Aishah:

The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) as saying: If anyone vows to obey Allah, let him obey Him, but if anyone vows to disobey Him, let him not disobey Him.

Narrated Aisha, Ummul Mu'minin:

The Prophet (ﷺ) as saying: No vow must be taken to do an act of disobedience, and the atonement for it is the same as for an oath.

The tradition mentioned above has also been transmitted by al-Zuhri through a different chain of narrators to the same effect. Abu Dawud said:

I heard Ahmad b. Shabbuyah say: Ibn al-Mubarak said about this tradition that Abu Salamah had transmitted it. This indicates that al-Zuhri did not hear it from Abu Salamah. Ahmad b. Muhammad said: This is verified by what Ayyub b. Sulaiman narrated to us. Abu Dawud said: I heard Ahmad b. Hanbal sa…