Hadith 3462

(1) The statement: “Whoever swears by a religion other than Islam, lying deliberately, is as he said”: “Other than Islam” is an attribute of “religion.” If he did such and such, he is a Jew, a Christian, or free from Islam. Is this type of speech called an oath in the custom of the Shariah? Is expiation required for breaking it? Nakha’i, Awza’i, Thawri, the companions of Abu Hanifah, Ahmad, and Ishaq held that it is an oath, and expiation is required for breaking it. Malik, Shafi’i, and Abu Ubayd said: It is not an oath, and there is no expiation, but the one who says it is sinful whether he is truthful or lying. They argued with the statement: “Whoever swears and says, ‘By al-Lat and al-Uzza,’ let him say, ‘There is no god but Allah,’” and no expiation is mentioned in the hadith. We say: The absence of mention does not necessitate the negation of expiation. Our evidence is this hadith mentioned in the book, as Allah, the Exalted, obligated expiation for one who makes a declaration of prohibition, which is an evil and false statement, and swearing by these things is evil and false. The author of “Al-Hidayah” said: We hold this by analogy to prohibiting the permissible, as it is an oath by the text, for he (ﷺ) prohibited Mariyah to himself, so Allah, the Exalted, revealed: O Prophet, why do you prohibit what Allah has made lawful for you? (At-Tahrim: 1), then said: Allah has ordained for you the dissolution of your oaths (At-Tahrim: 2). This is supported by what Allamah Muhammad Ahsan as-Siddiqi an-Nanotawi said in the margin of “Al-Kanz,” taken from its commentaries: Ibn Abbas said: Whoever swears by Judaism, it is an oath. It is also supported by what Bayhaqi narrated from Zayd ibn Thabit. Thus, it is stated in “Ad-Durr al-Mukhtar” and “Radd al-Muhtar”: Swearing by saying, “If I do such and such, I am a Jew, a Christian, bear witness that I am a Christian, a partner with the disbelievers, or a disbeliever,” requires expiation if he breaks it, by analogy to prohibiting the permissible. Since he made the condition a sign of disbelief, and he believed it obligatory to abstain, and it is possible to say it is obligatory for another reason, we consider it an oath. This applies to the future. As for the past, such as saying, “If I did such and such, I am a disbeliever or a Jew,” or the like, knowing it is contrary, it is a deliberate false oath with no expiation except repentance. There is disagreement regarding his disbelief. The correct view is that the one who swears does not become a disbeliever, whether it is about the past or the future, if he believes it is an oath. If he is ignorant and believes he becomes a disbeliever in a deliberate false oath or by fulfilling the condition in the future, he becomes a disbeliever in both cases—immediately in the deliberate false oath, and upon fulfilling the condition in the binding oath—due to his acceptance of disbelief, as clarified in “Al-Bahr.” It is established in the two Sahihs from him (ﷺ) that he said: “Whoever swears by a religion other than Islam, lying deliberately, is as he said.” It appears that this was stated in the context of the prevalent case, as the majority of those who swear such oaths are ignorant and believe that disbelief is necessary upon breaking it. If this is established, otherwise, the hadith is evidence for those who absolutely hold his disbelief.

(2) The statement: “Whoever kills himself with a piece of iron will be tormented with it in the fire of Hell”: The jurists and the people of the Sunnah unanimously agree that whoever kills himself does not exit Islam by that. Abu Hanifah and Muhammad said: He is washed and prayed over, and this is the fatwa, though his sin is greater than one who kills another. Kamal preferred the view of Abu Yusuf: “He is washed but not prayed over,” based on what is in “Muslim”: A man who killed himself was brought, and he (ﷺ) did not pray over him. In “Al-Bahr,” it is stated: The verification differs, but Abu Yusuf is supported by the hadith. I say: It may be said that the hadith does not indicate this, as it only states that he (ﷺ) did not pray over him. It appears he refrained as a deterrent to others from such an act, as he refrained from praying over a debtor, and it does not necessitate that no one among the companions prayed over him, as there is no equivalence between his prayer and that of others. Allah, the Exalted, said: Indeed, your prayer is a source of tranquility for them (At-Tawbah: 103). Know that this applies to one who kills himself intentionally. If it was by mistake, he is prayed over without disagreement, as clarified in “Al-Kifayah” and others, “Umdat al-Qari,” “Ad-Durr al-Mukhtar,” and “Radd al-Muhtar,” taken from them.

(3) The statement: “Whoever says, ‘I am free from Islam,’ etc.”: Ibn al-Humam said: Saying, “He is free from Islam if he does such and such,” is an oath according to us, and likewise if he says he is free from prayer and fasting. [From “Al-Mirqat”] The statement: “There is no vow for the son of Adam in what he does not possess” will be addressed, God willing, in the chapter on vows.