Is making a vow disliked?

In the Name of Allah, the All-beneficent, the All-merciful

And blessings and peace be upon the noblest of creation, our master Muhammad, and his pure progeny

It has been the custom of the jurists since early times, in their books of jurisprudence, to begin the Book of the Vow with its definition and a mention of its types, conditions and rulings, without addressing therein the ruling on the vow in itself, in terms of permissibility, recommendation or dislike. However, some of them dealt with it among miscellaneous issues and in books of questions, or in appendices to other books such as the Book of Hajj, as the author of al-ʿUrwa al-Wuthqa did.

For this reason the basic ruling on the vow escapes people, and they have adhered to what the books of jurisprudence mention: that it is obligatory to fulfill the vow if it is concluded in the correct manner, in its valid categories, whether it is a vow of piety and gratitude, a vow of restraint and deterrence, or a vow of voluntary donation and supererogation.

The jurists have held various views on the ruling on the vow in itself, each of them with his own evidence and basis. We mention them according to what we have gathered from scattered studies and books, and we formulate it in our own wording, as follows:

The first opinion: It holds that it is disliked absolutely; that is, the vow in itself is disliked and undesirable, and the obligations in the Shariʿa are sufficient for a person, so there is no reason for a person to make something additional obligatory upon himself.

They have adduced a narration from Imam al-Sadiq (a) in which it is stated: (I indeed dislike the making obligatory—that a man should make [something] obligatory upon himself).

On this opinion, the vow is disliked, meaning that there is reward in refraining from it and no punishment in doing it; but nevertheless it is obligatory to fulfill it and its conditions.

The second opinion: It holds that it is disliked in the sense that applies to acts of worship (al-karaha al-ʿibadiyya); that is, when dislike attaches to acts of worship—such as a person praying in a place where it is disliked—it means a lesser reward for that act, not a complete negation of reward.

They have argued for this on the grounds that the narrations indicate that there must be in the vow the intention of seeking nearness to Allah the Exalted, and seeking nearness can only be in an act of obedience; and on the basis of the hadith of Imam al-Sadiq (a) in which it is stated: (The vow is nothing until he names something for Allah).

The third opinion: The vow in itself is an act of obedience, and it is realized only with a vowed object that is legally preferable; but the dislike apparent from some reports is by way of guidance (irshad), and it is a dislike that relates to the manner of the vow, which may weigh heavily on a person, so that he usually falls short in fulfilling it, thereby committing what is forbidden.

On this opinion, the vow will be recommended (mustaḥabb) in itself, and a person must take care in it to keep his commitment to it, so as not to fall into what is prohibited.

The fourth opinion: The vow is recommended and legally desirable, and no dislike attaches to it. There are rulings related to the formula of the vow and its subject: whatever vow fulfills all the legal conditions—among them the intention of seeking nearness to Allah, or that the vowed thing be within the power of the one making the vow, and the like—is then a recommended act of obedience from which reward is hoped, because it calls to restraint from disobedience or impels to the performance of obedience.

It is also a kind of appeal to the compassion of Allah the Exalted, as is the case in supplications, as though the one making the vow says: O Lord, fulfill my wish for me, and I will draw near to You by what You have not made obligatory upon me.

This is argued from the practice of the Infallible Imams (a) of making vows, from the revelation of verses concerning them, from the verses that came in the context of praise, and from the command of Allah the Exalted concerning it, as in His words—Almighty is He:

“They fulfill their vows and fear a day whose ill will be widespread.” (Qurʾan 76:7)

“When the wife of Imran said, ‘My Lord, I dedicate to You in consecration what is in my belly. Accept it from me; indeed You are the All-hearing, the All-knowing.’” (Qurʾan 3:35)

“Eat, drink, and be comforted. Then if you see any human, say, ‘‘Indeed I have vowed a fast to the All-beneficent, so I will not speak to any human today.’’” (Qurʾan 19:26)

There are some details into which there is no need to delve. It is evident that each opinion has a perspective that it sees; however, the third and fourth opinions may be closer to the Qurʾanic basis and to the conduct of the Ahl al-Bayt (a).

And Allah knows best.

Sayed Mahmoud Al-Mosawi