Question
What is the Ahle Sunnah Wal Jammah’s Stance on taking an oath or making a promise or even swearing upon something other than Allah, for example “ I swear upon so and so’s grave that I did not do this” , is doing this Shirk? Some people have used an hadees narrated in Al Bukhari 2679 and Abu Dawood 3251 to prove this statement that it is shirk…. Furthermore if it is Minor Shirk then can that take someone out of the folds of Islam and can that type of shirk be forgiven?
Answer
Qasam or Oath on someone other than Allah, is not permissible and is a sin. Fatawa Shamia mentions the wording of Durre Mukhtar and his commentry on it.
لا یقسم بغیر اللہ تعالی کالنبی ﷺ والقران والکعبہ
One must not do Qasam of someone other than Allah such as the Prophet ﷺ or the Quran and the Ka’ba. Allama Shaami expalains;
لَا يَنْعَقِدُ الْقَسَمُ بِغَيْرِهِ تَعَالَى أَيْ غَيْرِ أَسْمَائِهِ وَصِفَاتِهِ وَلَوْ بِطَرِيقِ الْكِنَايَةِ كَمَا مَرَّ، بَلْ يَحْرُمُ كَمَا فِي الْقُهُسْتَانِيِّ،
The Oath on someone other than Allah, i.e. other than his names and attributes, will not be established even if it was done through Kinaya,(metaphor).
وَمَنْ حَلَفَ بِغَيْرِ اللَّهِ تَعَالَى لَمْ يَكُنْ حَالِفًا كَالنَّبِيِّ وَالْكَعْبَةِ، لِقَوْلِهِ – عَلَيْهِ الصَّلَاةُ وَالسَّلَامُ – مَنْ كَانَ مِنْكُمْ حَالِفًا فَلْيَحْلِفْ بِاَللَّهِ أَوْ لِيَذَرْ
“Whoever takes and Oath on someone other than Allah, his oath will not be established; For example one taking an oath upon the Nabi ﷺ or the Ka’ba. Since it was mentioned in the Hadeeth Shareef by the Prophet ﷺ:
” Whoever among you takes an oath, let him take an oath on Allah otherwise let him refrain from it. ” (Fatawa Shaami, V 3, Page 712)
The Hadeeth Shareef of Bukhari Shareef referred to in the question is as follows and is completely in line with what has been said above:
نَافِعٌ عَنْ عَبْدِ اللَّهِ ـ رضى الله عنه ـ أَنَّ النَّبِيَّ صلى الله عليه وسلم قَالَ مَنْ كَانَ حَالِفًا فَلْيَحْلِفْ بِاللَّهِ أَوْ لِيَصْمُتْ
The Prophet (ﷺ) said, “Whoever has to take an oath should swear by Allah or remain silent.” (i.e. He should not swear by other than Allah.)
The Hadeeth Shareef of Abu Daud, no 3251 is as follows:
سَمِعْتُ رَسُولَ اللَّهِ صلى الله عليه وسلم يَقُولُ مَنْ حَلَفَ بِغَيْرِ اللَّهِ فَقَدْ أَشْرَكَ
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 a polytheist.
Imam nawawi mentions in Riyad us Saliheen, Hadeeth 1720,:
وفسر بعض العلماء قوله: كفر أو أشرك على التغليظ، كما روي أن النبي صلى الله عليه وسلم قال: الرياء شرك.
Some ‘Ulama’ are of the opinion that the words of the Prophet (ﷺ) that “He who swears by anyone or anything other than Allah has indeed committed an act of Kufr or Shirk,” are in the nature of extreme admonition. And in fact, it is not Shirk. The same applies to the saying of the Prophet (ﷺ), who said, “showing off is Shirk.
Thus, in the light of above, the Oath will only be established if its in the name of Allah or his siffaaat. An Oath on anything other than Allah will not be established, and there will be no expiation for breaking such an oath. Where it has been referred to as shirk, it refers to the minor Shirk and this doesn’t take one out of the folds of Islam. It only amounts to a lack of belief in the oneness of Allah and will be a sin. Istighfar and repentance can get all sins, major or minor, forgiven.
واللہ تعالیٰ ورسولہ الکریم ﷺ اعلم بالصواب
Written by: Mufti Syed Siraj Ul Arifeen Shah
St. Ives (Cambridgeshire, UK)
21/08/2024 08:31, 16 Safar, 1446 Hijri
