Question

Bismillah 

A few years ago, before I became a Muslim, I did not know which religion was true. This worried me, so I made many promises to God in the hopes that he would forgive my sins and lead me to salvation. These promises, usually to abstain from food, drink or other things for a short period, became a great burden on me, so I eventually promised to make no more promises. I certainly intended this to mean I would make no more promises to God. I may have also intended it to mean that I would make no more promises to men, but I cannot fully remember my intention. Because of this vow, I have a few questions.

1. Must I still keep this vow I made before I became a Muslim?
2. If so, since I no longer remember what exactly I intended by the vow, how should I try to keep it.
3. Does marriage involve the making of promises to God and men, or does it only require a statement of intention? Would my vow prevent me from marrying?
Thank you

Answer

All perfect praise be to Allah, The Lord of the Worlds. I testify that there is none worthy of worship except Allah, and that Muhammad is His Slave and Messenger.

We ask Allah The Almighty to reward you for being keen to embrace Islam and we congratulate you on the favor that Allah has bestowed upon you by guiding you to Islam.

As for the promises you made before embracing Islam, you are not required to fulfill them even if you promised Allah to offer a good deed as long as this took place before embracing Islam, let alone promising Him to abstain from food, drink, marriage, or the like. So, you are not required to abstain from any of these things.

However, we draw you attention to the fact that a Muslim should not take the matter of promising Allah The Almighty or promising people lightly, because this may lead him to neglect fulfilling his promises and thus fall under the dispraise mentioned in the following verse:

Allah The Almighty Says (what means): {And among them are those who made a covenant with Allah, [saying], "If He should give us from His bounty, we will surely spend in charity, and we will surely be among the righteous." But when He gave them from His bounty, they were stingy with it and turned away while they refused. So He penalized them with hypocrisy in their hearts until the Day they will meet Him - because they failed Allah in what they promised Him and because they [habitually] used to lie.} [Quran 9:75-77]

Allah Knows best.

Fatwa answered by: The Fatwa Center at Islamweb