Ruling on a vow if the vow taker cannot specify the vowed object

4-8-2015 | IslamWeb

Question:

I took two vows and made them conditional on the occurrence of two different matters. One of them took place while the other did not. I do not know what I have vowed for the first matter and what I have for the second. What should I do?

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Answer:

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, sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, is His slave and messenger.

You must do your best to remember what you vowed to do. If you become sure or almost sure of what you have vowed to do, then you have to fulfill it. If you cannot remember and have become hesitant between two probabilities, then some Shafi‘i scholars believe that you should fulfill both of them because fulfilling vows is obligatory and whatever is necessary for fulfilling an obligation is in itself obligatory. Al-Haytami said in Tuhfat Al-Muhtaj: "If he does his best but cannot remember and has lost hope in this, then it is better to fulfill the vow according to all probabilities, as he cannot fulfill his obligation with certainty unless he fulfills the vow in all probable manners. Whatever is necessary for fulfilling an obligation is in itself obligatory."

Nevertheless, the majority of the scholars view that the person in this case is liable to offer an expiation for oath breaking because having doubts about the vowed object is the same as not specifying it, and also because the inability to specify the vowed object resembles the case of vowing a certain matter and then being unable to fulfill it. The Prophet, sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, said: “If anyone takes a vow but does not specify it, then its expiation is the same as that for a broken oath.” [At-Tirmithi] 

Allaah Knows best.