Dear scholar, assalaamu alaykum. I have been working for a private institution since 2000. In the year 2003, I had to undergo major neck surgery and was on leave for one month. I told Allaah that if I kept my job, I would donate Rs.100/- every month to the masjid for as long as I kept it. By the grace of Allaah, I am still working, but since October 2014, I have not given Rs.100/- to the masjid but have written in a diary that I have to give Rs.1500/- ( from October 2014 till date) to the masjid, and the cash is with me. Now I want a fatwa telling me whether I can give the money to my brother, who is a poor person and is very much in need of money, instead of giving it to the masjid. Kindly advise me in the matter.

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

Your statement, "if I kept my job, I would donate Rs.100/- every month to the masjid for as long as I kept it," is not a binding vow because this wording does not indicate decisive commitment; it is more of a promise.

As to the vow (nathr), its wording must indicate commitment. The Maaliki scholar Khaleel wrote, "A vow is a commitment made by a Muslim who is competent for religious assignments." [Mukhtasar]

The Maaliki scholar Ibn Juzayy wrote, "The formula of a vow is like saying: It is due upon me to Allaah to do such-and-such,' or similar statements. It is an obligation to fulfill it regardless of whether he used the word 'vow' in the statement or not unless he only made this statement as telling about something, then it is not an obligation on him to do anything in this regard." [Al-Qawaaneen Al-Fiqhiyyah]

Ibn Qudaamah wrote, "The wording of a vow is to say, 'It is due upon me to Allaah to do such-and such.' If the person says, 'I vow to do such-and-such', then the vow is binding because he explicitly mentioned it. It is also considered a vow when he says, 'If Allaah cures me, I will fast a month.'" [Al-Mughni]

Hence, you are not obliged to pay the mentioned sum of money to the masjid or to any other entity; but there is no harm in giving it to your brother.

On the other hand, if your intention when you made that statement was to make a vow, then it becomes a binding vow because it is an implicit formula accompanied with the intention to make a vow. In Mughni Al-Muhtaaj, the Shaafiʻi scholar Ash-Shirbeeni said, "It is a condition for the wording of the vow to be binding by using words that signify commitment, and it is not established by intention, like all other contracts... As our Shaykh (Zakariyya al-Ansaari) said, 'It (the vow) should be established by an implicit formula accompanied with the intention.'"

Hence, if your intention was to make a vow, you are obliged to fulfill this vow in the very manner that you stated, namely by paying the money to the masjid that you specified each month. The Prophet said, "Deeds are to be judged only by their intention."

In this case it is not sufficient to pay the money to your brother in terms of clearing yourself of your liability from the vow.

Lastly, we would like to underline that it is impermissible to delay the fulfillment of a binding vow bound to a specific time frame without a valid excuse. The person should hasten to fulfill his vow and pay off the delayed amount. Scholars held different views as to whether expiation is due for delaying the fulfillment of a vow in this case or not. The majority of the scholars maintained that the expiation is not due in such a case. This is the correct view in this regard given the absence of an authentic religious text explicitly stating that expiation is due in such a case.

Allaah knows best.