Dear Sheikh, I had made a pledge last August to pay £500 to the people of Lebanon during the crisis time. The pledge was to be paid within 1 year. Inshalah I'm about to pay it off next month, however my mother told me of very needy relatives we have in Somali, who are in a more urgent need now because of the situation there. If I give the pledge to them instead of my orignal intention to give it to the needy in Lebanon, am I breaking my pledge? Thank you very much /Jazakalaah khairan

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.

It is permissible for you to spend the charity on the people of Somalia instead of spending it on the people of Lebanon which was your original vow. By this, you would be acting according to the view of the scholars who are of the opinion that this is permissible. Ibn Al-Humaam from the Hanafi School of jurisprudence, said: "If one vows to give charity to the poor of Makkah but he finally gave it to others instead of them, it is permissible, as the obligatory part of the vow is regarding the act of obedience, and this act of obedience is achieved by just giving the charity."

However, to be on the safe side, it is better to spend the charity on the people of Lebanon, to whom your vow was made, because there are some scholars who are of the view that it is forbidden to change the vow (to spend it on other than what one originally made the vow on).

Al-Hayttami from the Shaafi'i School of jurisprudence, said: "If one vows to donate something to certain people he is obliged to donate it to them."

Allaah Knows best.