Vowed to memorize a certain Surah of the Quran

5-8-2015 | IslamWeb

Question:

I made a vow to memorize the first two chapters of the Noble Quran (Al-Baqarah and Al-‘Imran). I feared that I might not be able to deliver on my vow and wanted to change it to something that I can do easily, noting that the thing upon which I rendered the vow conditional, has not yet taken place.

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Answer:

All perfect praise be to Allaah Almighty, and peace and blessings be upon the Messenger of Allaah, sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, and his family and companions.

Your vow to memorize Surah Al-Baqarah and Al-‘Imraan is a vow to do an act of obedience to Allaah, the Exalted; therefore, it is incumbent on you to fulfill it whether it was absolute or conditional. However, a conditional vow becomes due only when its condition (i.e. the thing upon which the person renders the vow conditional) is fulfilled. 'A’ishah reported that the Prophet, sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, said: "Whoever vowed to do an act of obedience to Allaah, the Exalted, must do it; and whoever vowed to disobey Allaah, the Exalted, should not disobey Him." [Al-Bukhari]

You cannot change your vow and do something other than what you vowed to do whether it is an absolute or conditional vow and whether you fear that you would not be able to deliver on it or even are sure of that. Instead, if you are actually unable to fulfill your vow, you should offer expiation like for breaking an oath. This is because the Prophet, sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, said: "If anyone takes a vow that he is unable to fulfill, its expiation is the same as that for an oath." [Abu Daawood and Ibn Maajah] He, sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, did not advise Muslims to change their vows when they fail to fulfill them.

 Allaah Knows best.