Book 64: Vows (Nazar)
Title of book: Minhaj al-Talibin wa Umdat al-Muftin (منهاج الطالبين وعمدة المفتين في الفقه)
Author: Imam Nawawi
Full name: Imam Muhyiddin Abi Zakariyya Yahya ibn Sharaf al-Nawawi (أبو زكريا يحيى بن شرف بن مُرِّيِّ بن حسن بن حسين بن محمد جمعة بن حِزام الحزامي النووي الشافعي)
Born: Muharram 631 AH/ October 1233 Nawa, Ayyubid Sultanate
Died: 24 Rajab 676 AH [9]/ 21 December 1277 (age 45) Nawa, Mamluk Sultanate
Resting place: Nawa, present Syria
Translated into English by: E. C. HOWARD
Field of study: sharia, Islamic law, fiqh, Islamic jurisprudence of Shafi'i's school of thought
Type of literature: classical Arabic
Contents
كتاب النَّذْرِ
BOOK 64 -VOW
وَهُوَ ضَرْبَانِ نَذْرُ لَجَاجٍ: كَإِنْ كَلَّمْتُهُ فَلِلَّهِ عَلَيَّ عِتْقٌ
أَوْ صَوْمٌ، وَفِيهِ كَفَّارَةُ يَمِينٍ، وَفِي قَوْلٍ مَا الْتَزَمَ، وَفِي
قَوْلٍ أَيُّهُمَا شَاءَ.
قُلْت: الثَّالِثُ أَظْهَرُ وَرَجَّحَهُ
الْعِرَاقِيُّونَ، وَاَللَّهُ أَعْلَمُ، وَلَوْ قَالَ إنْ دَخَلْت فَعَلَيَّ
كَفَّارَةُ يَمِينٍ أَوْ نَذْرٍ لَزِمَتْهُ كَفَّارَةٌ بِالدُّخُولِ، وَنَذْرُ
تَبَرُّرٍ بِأَنْ يَلْتَزِمَ قُرْبَةً إنْ حَدَثَتْ نِعْمَةٌ أَوْ ذَهَبَتْ
نِقْمَةٌ كَإِنْ شُفِيَ مَرِيضِي فَلِلَّهِ عَلَيَّ أَوْ فَعَلَيَّ كَذَا
فَيَلْزَمُهُ ذَلِكَ إذَا حَصَلَ الْمُعَلَّقُ عَلَيْهِ، وَإِنْ لَمْ يُعَلِّقْهُ
بِشَيْءٍ كَلِلَّهِ عَلَيَّ صَوْمٌ لَزِمَهُ فِي الْأَظْهَرِ، وَلَا يَصِحُّ
نَذْرُ مَعْصِيَةٍ، وَلَا وَاجِبٍ، وَلَوْ نَذَرَ فِعْلَ مُبَاحٍ، أَوْ تَرْكَهُ
لَمْ يَلْزَمْهُ لَكِنْ إنْ خَالَفَ لَزِمَهُ كَفَّارَةُ يَمِينٍ عَلَى
الْمُرَجَّحِ.
وَلَوْ نَذَرَ صَوْمَ أَيَّامٍ نُدِبَ تَعْجِيلُهَا،
فَإِنْ قَيَّدَ بِتَفْرِيقٍ أَوْ مُوَالَاةٍ وَجَبَ، وَإِلَّا جَازَ.
أَوْ
سَنَةٍ مُعَيَّنَةٍ صَامَهَا وَأَفْطَرَ الْعِيدَ وَالتَّشْرِيقَ وَصَامَ
رَمَضَانَ عَنْهُ وَلَا قَضَاءَ، وَإِنْ أَفْطَرَتْ بِحَيْضٍ وَنِفَاسٍ وَجَبَ
الْقَضَاءُ فِي الْأَظْهَرِ.
قُلْت: الْأَظْهَرُ لَا يَجِبُ،
وَبِهِ قَطَعَ الْجُمْهُورُ، وَاَللَّهُ أَعْلَمُ، وَإِنْ أَفْطَرَ يَوْمًا بِلَا
عُذْرٍ وَجَبَ قَضَاؤُهُ وَلَا يَجِبُ اسْتِئْنَافُ سَنَةٍ، فَإِنْ شَرَطَ
التَّتَابُعَ وَجَبَ فِي الْأَصَحِّ.
أَوْ غَيْرَ مُعَيَّنَةٍ
وَشَرَطَ التَّتَابُعَ وَجَبَ، وَلَا يَقْطَعُهُ صَوْمُ رَمَضَانَ عَنْ فَرْضِهِ
وَأَفْطَرَ الْعِيدَ وَالتَّشْرِيقَ وَيَقْضِيهَا تِبَاعًا مُتَّصِلَةً بِآخِرِ
السَّنَةِ، وَلَا يَقْطَعُهُ حَيْضٌ، وَفِي قَضَائِهِ الْقَوْلَانِ، وَإِنْ لَمْ
يَشْرِطْهُ لَمْ يَجِبْ.
أَوْ يَوْمِ الِاثْنَيْنِ أَبَدًا لَمْ
يَقْضِ أَثَانِيَ رَمَضَانَ، وَكَذَا الْعِيدَ وَالتَّشْرِيقَ فِي الْأَظْهَرِ،
فَلَوْ لَزِمَهُ صَوْمُ شَهْرَيْنِ تِبَاعًا لِكَفَّارَةٍ صَامَهُمَا، وَيَقْضِي
أَثَانِيهِمَا، وَفِي قَوْلٍ لَا يَقْضِي إنْ سَبَقَتْ الْكَفَّارَةُ
النَّذْرَ.
قُلْت: ذَا الْقَوْلُ أَظْهَرُ وَاَللَّهُ أَعْلَمُ،
وَتَقْضِي زَمَنَ حَيْضٍ وَنِفَاسٍ فِي الْأَظْهَرِ.
أَوْ يَوْمًا
بِعَيْنِهِ لَمْ يَصُمْ قَبْلَهُ.
أَوْ يَوْمًا مِنْ أُسْبُوعٍ
ثُمَّ نَسِيَهُ صَامَ آخِرَهُ وَهُوَ الْجُمُعَةُ، فَإِنْ لَمْ يَكُنْ هُوَ
وَقَعَ قَضَاءً.
وَمَنْ شَرَعَ فِي صَوْمِ نَفْلٍ فَنَذَرَ
إتْمَامَهُ لَزِمَهُ عَلَى الصَّحِيحِ، وَإِنْ نَذَرَ بَعْضَ يَوْمٍ لَمْ
يَنْعَقِدْ، وَقِيلَ: يَلْزَمُهُ يَوْمٌ.
أَوْ يَوْمَ قُدُومِ
زَيْدٍ فَالْأَظْهَرُ انْعِقَادُهُ، فَإِنْ قَدِمَ لَيْلاً أَوْ يَوْمَ عِيدٍ
أَوْ فِي رَمَضَانَ فَلَا شَيْءَ عَلَيْهِ أَوْ نَهَارًا وَهُوَ مُفْطِرٌ أَوْ
صَائِمٌ قَضَاءً أَوْ نَذْرًا وَجَبَ يَوْمٌ آخَرُ عَنْ هَذَا، أَوْ وَهُوَ
صَائِمٌ نَفْلاً فَكَذَلِكَ، وَقِيلَ يَجِبُ تَتْمِيمُهُ وَيَكْفِيه، وَلَوْ
قَالَ: إنْ قَدِمَ زَيْدٌ فَلِلَّهِ عَلَيَّ صَوْمُ الْيَوْمِ التَّالِي
لِيَوْمِ قُدُومِهِ، وَإِنْ قَدِمَ عَمْرٌو فَلِلَّهِ عَلَيَّ صَوْمُ أَوَّلِ
خَمِيسٍ بَعْدَهُ فَقَدِمَا فِي الْأَرْبِعَاءِ وَجَبَ صَوْمُ الْخَمِيسِ عَنْ
أَوَّلِ النَّذْرَيْنِ وَيَقْضِي الْآخَرَ.
BOOK 64 -VOWS
Section
Vows
are of two kinds —
. A vow
with a penalty, consisting, e.g ., in the
following words : — -
“ If I speak to
him I engage before God to fast,” or
“ to enfranchise a
slave.’ If not
kept this vow obliges the person
formulating it to accom-
plish the
expiation prescribed for perjury, or,
according to one authority,
to accomplish
the expiatory action promised. A single
authority gives
the person who owes
expiation a choice between the expiation for
perjury and the expiatory act
promised, [fit is to this latter doctrino
I give the preference, as do the
jurists of Irak.] On the other hand,
a
person who says, “ If I enter
such-and-such a house I engage to perform
the expiation prescribed for perjury,
need only undergo the expiation
for
perjury.
. A vow of gratitude,
consisting in an engagement towards God to
acquit oneself of some good work
in the hope of obtaining from Him
some favour or of avoiding some
calamity. This vow may be formulated,
for example, in the following terms
: — “ If God heals my sickness I engage
to accomplish before Him such-and-such
an act,” or “ I engage to per-
form
such-and-such an action.” A promiso such
as this should be
accomplished if
the event hoped for takes place,
i.e. if the condition is
fulfilled.
*The accomplishment of the promise is
obligatory even where
it is not made
dependent upon a condition, for example,
if one says,
“ I engage before God
to fast.”
A vow may not have
for its object an action that is
unjust or that is
already obligatory. A
person who vows to perform some
indifferent
action, or to abstain from
it, need not keep his engagement, provided
he acquits himself of the expiation
for perjury, at least according to the
theory which is to be preferred.
Where one vows to fast for
several days it is commendable to do
this
as soon as possible. One may
even fast for the promised number of
days separately as well as together,
unless a special restriction was made
as
to this. A vow to fast for a
specified year renders a fast obligatory
during the whole of this year,
with the exception of the days of
the great
annual festivals, and of
the days called ayyam at tashrik ; and
it is
understood of course that the
fast of the month of Bamadan must be
accomplished as it is by everybody,
without its being afterwards neces-
sary
to repeat it by way of reparation
for the month thus deducted
from the
vow. *When a woman makes such a vow,
but is obliged to
break her fast
in consequence of menstruation or lochia,
she must make
up subsequently for
the days thus lost. [*This precept
is not obligatory,
in the opinion of
most authorities.] The vow in question
involves,
however, the obligation to
accomplish afterwards every other day of
fasting lost without this being
caused by force majeure. And the reader
should also be informed that the
believer need not begin a new fast
of a
whole year when he accomplishes
afterwards in this way the days of
fasting that have been lost, funless
he has expressly announced that the
days of fasting are to be
uninterrupted.
A vow to fast for a
year, without specifying what year, admits
of
the following distinctions : —
.
Even in the case where one promises
to observe the days of the
fast
without interruption, it does not lose
its validity by the intercalation
of
the obligatory fast of Bamadan, nor
by the forced interruption of the
days of the two great annual
festivals, and of the days called ayyam
at tashrik, during which fasting is
not permitted. But all the fasting
days not kept should be made
up for during the next year by
an equal
number of consecutive days.
Nor is this fast invalidated by an
inter-
ruption consequent upon menstruation ;
though it is true that there is
upon this subject the same
divergence of opinion we have mentioned
already with regard to a similar
interruption of a vow to fast during a
specified year.
. Where the
vow does not make any mention of
an uninterrupted
succession of days the
difficulties mentioned under No. do
not exist,
and the fast lasts only
for a lunar year, i.e. for
days chosen at those
periods which
are most convenient with regard to
one’s other duties
to God.
A vow “
to fast every Monday” does not
oblige one to fast over
again for
the Mondays in Bamadan, nor for the
Mondays upon which
the fasting is
suspended in consequence of the two
festivals or the days
called
ayyam-at-taslirik. But where, on the other
hand, it is a question
of the
Mondays belonging to the period during
which one has to fast
for two
consecutive months by way of expiation,
one must then make
up for the
Mondays not observed. A single authority
does not admit
this theory in a case
where the obligatory expiation was
antecedent to
the vow. [*It is tho
doctrine maintained by this latter jurist
that I.
prefer.] *In the case of a
vow of this kind a woman should make
up
later for the Mondays upon which
the fast is interrupted by menstruation
or lochia.
A vow “ to fast
upon a certain day ” cannot be regarded
as properly
observed if the fast is
anticipated. A person who makes a vow to
fast
upon a certain day of a certain
week, and then forgets the day of
observance, should fast upon the
last possible day of that week, i.c.
the
Friday. This fast can then be
taken into account as an act of
devotion
accomplished too late, if it
should transpire that the specified day
was
not a Friday. ffAnd a supererogatory
fast becomes obligatory for
whoever makes
a vow to complete, while he is
accomplishing it. A vow
“ to fast for a
part of a day ” has no legal
consequences, though, accord-
ing to some
authorities one should fast then for a
whole day. *Avow
to fast “the day
of Zaid’s arrival” should be accomplished,
unless
Zaid arrives during the night
or the day of one of the two
annual festivals,
or in the month of
Ramadan, for in these cases the vow
is considered as
void. The arrival
of Zaid upon a day upon which one
has already
broken one’s fast, or
begun another fast one had vowed to
perforin,
obliges one to fast another
day. And it is the same if
Zaid arrives upon
a day when one is
already engaged in performing some
supererogatory
fast. Some authorities, however,
maintain that in this latter case one
need only terminate the fast already
begun, which then counts for the
fast one vowed to observe. When
one utters the following vow : —
“
If Zaid arrives I will fast the day
after his arrival, and if Amr arrives
I will fast the first Thursday after
his arrival,” and both Zaid and Amr
arrive on the same Wednesday, the
fast is put off for a day, that
is to say,
one fasts on Thursday
for the arrival of Zaid, and
afterwards on another
day for that
of Amr.
فَصْلٌ [في نذر النسك والصدقة والصلاة وغيرها]
نَذَرَ الْمَشْيَ
إلَى بَيْتِ اللَّهِ أَوْ إتْيَانَهُ فَالْمَذْهَبُ وُجُوبُ إتْيَانِهِ بِحَجٍّ
أَوْ عُمْرَةٍ، فَإِنْ نَذَرَ الْإِتْيَانَ لَمْ يَلْزَمْهُ مَشْيٌ، وَإِنْ
نَذَرَ الْمَشْيَ أَوْ أَنْ يَحُجَّ أَوْ يَعْتَمِرَ مَاشِيًا فَالْأَظْهَرُ
وُجُوبُ الْمَشْيِ، فَإِنْ كَانَ قَالَ أَحُجُّ مَاشِيًا فَمِنْ حَيْثُ يُحْرِمُ،
وَإِنْ قَالَ أَمْشِي إلَى بَيْتِ اللَّهِ تَعَالَى فَمِنْ دُوَيْرَةِ أَهْلِهِ
فِي الْأَصَحِّ، وَإِذَا أَوْجَبْنَا الْمَشْيَ فَرَكِبَ لِعُذْرٍ أَجْزَأَهُ
وَعَلَيْهِ دَمٌ فِي الْأَظْهَرِ، أَوْ بِلَا عُذْرٍ أَجْزَأَهُ عَلَى
الْمَشْهُورِ وَعَلَيْهِ دَمٌ.
وَمَنْ نَذَرَ حَجًّا أَوْ عُمْرَةً
لَزِمَهُ فِعْلُهُ بِنَفْسِهِ، فَإِنْ كَانَ مَعْضُوبًا اسْتَنَابَ.
وَيُنْدَبُ
تَعْجِيلُهُ فِي أَوَّلِ الْإِمْكَانِ، فَإِنْ تَمَكَّنَ فَأَخَّرَ فَمَاتَ حُجَّ
مِنْ مَالِهِ.
وَإِنْ نَذَرَ الْحَجَّ عَامَهُ وَأَمْكَنَهُ
لَزِمَهُ، فَإِنْ مَنَعَهُ مَرَضٌ وَجَبَ الْقَضَاءُ، أَوْ عَدُوٌّ فَلَا فِي
الْأَظْهَرِ.
أَوْ صَلَاةً أَوْ صَوْمًا فِي وَقْتٍ فَمَنَعَهُ
مَرَضٌ أَوْ عَدُوٌّ وَجَبَ الْقَضَاءُ.
أَوْ هَدْيًا لَزِمَهُ
حَمْلُهُ إلَى مَكَّةَ وَالتَّصَدُّقُ بِهِ عَلَى مَنْ بِهَا.
أَوْ
التَّصَدُّقَ عَلَى أَهْلِ بَلَدٍ مُعَيَّنٍ لَزِمَهُ.
أَوْ صَوْمًا
فِي بَلَدٍ لَمْ يَتَعَيَّنْ، وَكَذَا صَلَاةً إلَّا الْمَسْجِدَ الْحَرَامَ،
وَفِي قَوْلٍ: وَمَسْجِدَ الْمَدِينَةِ وَالْأَقْصَى.
قُلْت:
الْأَظْهَرُ تَعْيِينُهُمَا كَالْمَسْجِدِ الْحَرَامِ، وَاَللَّهُ أَعْلَمُ.
أَوْ
صَوْمًا مُطْلَقًا فَيَوْمٌ، أَوْ أَيَّامًا فَثَلَاثَةٌ.
أَوْ
صَدَقَةً فِيمَا كَانَ.
أَوْ صَلَاةً فَرَكْعَتَانِ، وَفِي قَوْلٍ
رَكْعَةٌ فَعَلَى الْأَوَّلِ يَجِبُ الْقِيَامُ فِيهِمَا مَعَ الْقُدْرَةِ،
وَعَلَى الثَّانِي لَا.
أَوْ عِتْقًا فَعَلَى الْأَوَّلِ رَقَبَةُ
كَفَّارَةٍ، وَعَلَى الثَّانِي رَقَبَةٌ.
قُلْت: الثَّانِي هُنَا
أَظْهَرُ، وَاَللَّهُ أَعْلَمُ، أَوْ عِتْقَ كَافِرَةٍ مَعِيبَةٍ أَجْزَأَهُ
كَامِلَةٌ، فَإِنْ عَيَّنَ نَاقِصَةً تَعَيَّنَتْ.
أَوْ صَلَاةً
قَائِمًا لَمْ يَجُزْ قَاعِدًا، بِخِلَافِ عَكْسِهِ.
أَوْ طُولَ
قِرَاءَةِ الصَّلَاةِ.
أَوْ سُورَةً مُعَيَّنَةً، أَوْ الْجَمَاعَةَ
لَزِمَهُ.
وَالصَّحِيحُ انْعِقَادُ النَّذْرِ بِكُلِّ قُرْبَةٍ لَا
تَجِبُ ابْتِدَاءً كَعِيَادَةٍ، وَتَشْيِيعِ جِنَازَةٍ، وَالسَّلَامِ.
Section
A vow “ to walk to
the holy temple of Mecca ” or “ to
go there”
renders it obligatory, according
to our rite, to accomplish the pilgrimage
or the visit ; with this one
difference that a vow “to go there ” does
not necessarily imply going on foot.
* Walking is obligatory only if one
lias formulated a vow to “ walk to
the holy temple,” or “ to accomplish
either the pilgrimage or the visit
on foot.” Where this last-mentioned
expression is made use of, it
is enough to begin walking on placing
oneself in a state of iliram ; fbut
if one says, “ I will walk to the
holy
temple,” the journey must be
made on foot from the place where
one
has left one’s family. This
journey on foot does not prevent the
believer taking a ride, *if he
cannot otherwise continue his journey,
**or even if he allow himself
this convenience without valid excuse.
*But in either case he must
make up for his fault by an
expiatory
sacrifice. This pilgrimage or
this visit that one has vowed to
accomplish
should be made in person
unless the pilgrim is physically incapable
of
going to Mecca, in which case
he may be replaced by an agent.
In any
case it is commendable to
acquit oneself of the journey as
soon as possible.
If a person puts
the journey off and is surprised by
death before he has
accomplished it,
though he was capable of doing so,
the law prescribes
that the cost of
sending an agent to perform the
pilgrimage or the visit
must be
borne by the estate. A vow “ to
accomplish the pilgrimago in
a particular
year ” obliges the person taking the
oath to accomplish it
during the
year specified, if this is possible ;
and if he is prevented from
doing
this by sickness, ho must acquit
himself of it subsequently. *But
the
law requires nothing of this sort
where the preventing cause is wholly
objective, e.g . a state of war. As
to a prayer or a fast one has vowed
to
accomplish on a particular day or
at a particular hour, one must always
acquit oneself of it afterwards if
prevented, whether the cause be sickness
or a state of war.
A vow “ to
sacrifice a victim,” without anything else,
implies that
one must conduct the
victim to Mecca and give it to
the proper persons
there ; but where
one has specially mentioned that the
victim must be
given to the proper
persons in a particular locality, the
victim must be
sacrificed there. On
the other hand, avow “ to fast ”
does not imply
that the fast must
be accomplished in the place where
the vow is taken.
And the same
is the case with a vow to accomplish
a prayer, unless it
is uttered in
the great mosque at Mecca, or,
according to one authority,
in that
of Medina or that of Jerusalem.
[*These two mosques arc, so
far as
regards this subject, to bo regarded
exactly in the same way as
that
of Mecca.]
A vow “ to fast,” and
nothing else, obliges one to fast
for a single
day only ; while that “
to fast for a few days ” implies a
fast of at least
three days.
A
vow of “ an alms ” is accomplished
by a gift of anything. A vow
to
accomplish “ a prayer ” implies two rakas,
or, according to one jurist,
a single
one, even without adding the kiyam.
This act is, on the other
hand,
obligatory in each raka, according to
tho authorities who insist
upon two,
unless the believer is unable to
accomplish it.
A vow to “ enfranchise a
slave ” means a slave capable of being
enfranchised by way of expiation,
or, according to one authority, any
slave. [*It is tho latter who
is right.]
Where ono has vowed
to enfranchise “ an infidel slave with
redhibi-
tory defects one may acquit
oneself of one’s voav by the
enfranchisement
of an infidel slave exempt
from such defects, unless the particular
defects
have been specially mentioned. By
virtue of this same principle one
cannot remain seated when making a
prayer, if one lias vowed to accom-
plish it standing ; but the contrary is
quite lawful. One must adlioro
rigorously
to the terms of one’s vow with
regard to a recitation of the
Koran
for a certain lapse of time, or of a
certain chapter of the Koran,
or
with regard to a public prayer. ffOne
may promise, by way of a
vow,
to perform any work, provided it bo
one agreeable to God, and not
an
obligatory act, such as looking after a
sick person, making a salutation,
or
accompanying a funeral to the grave. []