Darulifta Ahlesunnat
(Dawateislami)
Question
اَلْجَوَابُ بِعَوْنِ الْمَلِکِ الْوَھَّابِ اَللّٰھُمَّ ھِدَایَۃَ
الْحَقِّ وَالصَّوَابِ
There
are two types of vows, viz: Islamically binding and customary. The Islamically
binding vow is formed when the person vows to perform a non-obligatory act of
worship for Allah. For example, he says, “If I recover from this illness, I
will pray 100 Rak’aat of Nafl
salah.” There are conditions for the validity of such a vow, and if they are
fulfilled, it will be compulsory (wājib) to
carry out the vow.
The
meaning of a customary vow is a gift or offering. For example, a person may vow
to gift the reward of an act of charity to the prophets and auliya.
He may say something like, “If I recover from this illness, I will feed people
in the name of so-and-so saint.” This is a customary vow. Although it is not
compulsory to carry it out, it is better to do so.
Other
than Allah Almighty, it is permissible to make a customary vow for a prophet or
saint, because a person’s intention here is to carry out a righteous action for
the sake of Allah Almighty, but transmit its reward to an honourable
personality, and there is no harm in this. This is also referred to as “niyaz”. However, an Islamically binding vow can only be
made for Allah Almighty alone; it is forbidden to make this type of vow for
anyone else.
وَاللہُ اَعْلَمُ عَزَّوَجَلَّ وَرَسُوْلُہ اَعْلَم صَلَّی اللّٰہُ تَعَالٰی عَلَیْہِ وَاٰلِہٖ
وَسَلَّم
Answered By : Mufti Muhammad Qasim Attari