Adaptation and Translation by Abul Aamaal Misbaah Olagunju
An-Nadhr - Vow, Pledge
يُوفُونَ بِالنَّذْرِ وَيَخَافُونَ يَوْمًا كَانَ شَرُّهُ مُسْتَطِيرًا
"They (are those who) fulfill (their) vows, and they fear a Day whose evil will be wide-spreading." - [Surah Al-Insaan: 7]
النذر لا يقدم شيئا ولا يوخره
"Vows neither hastens nor delay anything" - [Muslim]
Al-Halaf/Al-Qasam/Al-Yamin - Oath, Attestation, Swear
لَا يُؤَاخِذُكُمُ اللَّهُ بِاللَّغْوِ فِي أَيْمَانِكُمْ وَلَٰكِنْ يُؤَاخِذُكُمْ بِمَا عَقَّدْتُمُ الْأَيْمَانَ ۖ فَكَفَّارَتُهُ إِطْعَامُ عَشَرَةِ مَسَاكِينَ مِنْ أَوْسَطِ مَا تُطْعِمُونَ أَهْلِيكُمْ أَوْ كِسْوَتُهُمْ أَوْ تَحْرِيرُ رَقَبَةٍ ۖ فَمَنْ لَمْ يَجِدْ فَصِيَامُ ثَلَاثَةِ أَيَّامٍ ۚ ذَٰلِكَ كَفَّارَةُ أَيْمَانِكُمْ إِذَا حَلَفْتُمْ ۚ وَاحْفَظُوا أَيْمَانَكُمْ ۚ كَذَٰلِكَ يُبَيِّنُ اللَّهُ لَكُمْ آيَاتِهِ لَعَلَّكُمْ تَشْكُرُونَ
"Allah will not punish you for what is uninentional in your oaths, but He will punish you for your deliberate oaths; for its expiation (a deliberate oath) feed ten Masakin (poor persons), on a scale of the average of that with which you feed your own families; or clothe them; or manumit a slave. But whosoever cannot afford (that), then he should fast for three days. That is the expiation for the oaths when you have sworn. And protect your oaths (i.e. do not swear much). Thus Allah make clear to you His Ayat (proofs, evidences, verses, lessons, signs, revelations, etc.) that you may be grateful". - [Surah Al-Maa'idah:89]
فمن كان حالفا فليحلف بالله أو ليصمت
"Whoever wants to take an oath should swear by Allah or rather remain silent" - [Al-Bukhaari]
An-Nadhr (Vows) refers to the generality of all the acts of worships which Allah has made obligatory upon His slaves as in the above verse from al-Ihsaan, and also the acts of worships which the slave makes obligatory upon himself as a pledge to fulfill in future whether conditional or not.
Al-Halif (Oaths), and its synonyms, is that which is taken as a testification to what has passed or the present. Both of these are devotional acts due to Allah alone, and He does not hold to account for the laghw (unintended oaths)
It is disliked that a slave makes obligatory upon himself an act of worship through vows because it neither hastens (the desired) nor delays (the feared).
Tawheed in pledges and oaths is to take only Allah as witness, not to vow or swear by other than His Name, and not to take Allah's Name in vain or as bargaining chip in marketing your merchandise. Fulfillment of pledges is an obligation.
Shirk in Nadhr and Qasam is that you call on a deity to adjudicate in your pledges or to be a witness in your oaths, your unfulfilled and unexpiated vows, calling Allah to witness in falsehood, taking Allah's Name in vain are all sinning in these aspects of worship, and your conditional oath is makrūh (disliked) because Allah is the most generous and vows only takes from the miser.
You are guilty of these whenever you call your dead parents to witness in your discourse, whenever you swear by or encourage swearing by deities because you consider a deity able and swifter in judgment than Allah, each time you swear by Allah as a tool to promote your business, by your statement: "O Allah help me with 'this' and I will reciprocate with 'this-and-that' act of worship", by your unfulfilled and unexpiated vows and also your habit of constantly swearing amounts to taking Allah's Name in vain.
The conscious believer understands that vows cannot re-write his fate, nor can it hasten or delay what has been written for him so he does not attempt to bargain with Allah by way of pledges, he swears by Allah alone and only when absolutely necessary and he is most preserving of his vows whenever he did, and neither does he take Allah's name in vain, the well-aquainted, the all-preserver.
Adh-Dhabh/An-Nahr - Slaughter, Butcher, Slay
قُلْ إِنَّ صَلَاتِي وَنُسُكِي وَمَحْيَايَ وَمَمَاتِي لِلَّهِ رَبِّ الْعَالَمِينَ لَا شَرِيكَ لَهُ
"Say (O Muhammad): "Verily, my Salat (prayer), my sacrifice, my living, and my dying are for Allah, the Lord of the 'Alamin (mankind, jinns and all that exists). He has no partner." - [Surah Al-An'am 162-163]
فَصَلِّ لِرَبِّكَ وَانْحَرْ
"Therefore turn in prayer to your Lord and sacrifice (to Him only). "[Surah Al-Khawthar: 2]
Adh-Dhabh is the exhaustion of the soul through spilling of blood in a specific manner, and an-Nahr is synonyms to it and mostly used interchangeably with few exceptions. It could occur as an act of worship done in veneration of that which is slaughtered for and to seek nearness to it, or as a way of honouring guests or to hold banquets, it could also occur to be enjoyed as charitable meal or for the purpose of selling.
Tawheed in Adh-Dhabh is to slaughter as a way of venerating Allah, as a show of submission to Him and to attain His pleasure, and to slaughter while adhering to the legislated manners of slaughtering by the Sharee'ah, and that which is done to honour guests, and in aqeeqah (slaughtering on occasion of childbirth), or to hold wedding feasts is either commanded as an obligation or a desired goodly act which gets rewarded.
Major Shirk in dhabh and nahr is to intend by your slaughtering and your sacrifice, the veneration of, or offering to any deity other than Allah or to intend along with Allah other than Him. And adopting stipulations which are not stated in the sharee'ah when slaughtering, or mandating sacrifices for events which are not mentioned as necessitating such in the sharee'ah are both misguidance in this aspect.
Instances of these is your slaughtering to appease the jinns, slaughters made on shrines even without intending a deity by it, slaughters made on charms and talisman, slaughtering animals with specific descriptions, in prescribed places, during stipulated periods, which are not legislated in the Sharee'ah, for the purposes of relieving afflictions, warding off danger or bring about goodness. So also is mandating that slaughter be made for reasons of reciting some sections of the Qur'an or as a requirement for a specific prayer to be answered.
The believer venerates His Lord alone by all acts of worship, He recognizes Allah's blessings in the animals He created to be subservient to Him and as a means of provision, so he does not act ungratefully through them, rather he worships Allah by their slaughter and fulfills the obligations of the sharee'ah by them, and with their meats he entertain and honour His guests, enjoys from it, and also benefits the needy with charitable meals. As for the one who slaughters for other than Allah, upon him is the curse of Allah and he is a mushrik deserving of His punishment, the most praised, the one severe in punishment.
Adapted from:
Sharhu ath-Thalaathat al-Usuul l-ibn al-Uthaymeen
Sharhu Kitaab at-Tawheed l-Il-Fawzaan
Related topics:
