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Hadith 2378

أَخْبَرَنَا الْحَكَمُ بْنُ الْمُبَارَكِ، حَدَّثَنَا مَالِكُ بْنُ أَنَسٍ، عَنْ نَافِعٍ، عَنِ ابْنِ عُمَرَ: أَنّ رَسُولَ اللَّهِ صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ أَدْرَكَ عُمَرَ بْنَ الْخَطَّابِ وَهُوَ يَسِيرُ فِي رَكْبٍ، وَهُوَ يَحْلِفُ بِأَبِيه، فَقَالَ رَسُولُ اللَّهِ صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ: "إِنَّ اللَّهَ يَنْهَاكُمْ أَنْ تَحْلِفُوا بِآبَائِكُمْ، فَمَنْ كَانَ حَالِفًا، فَلْيَحْلِفْ بِاللَّهِ، أَوْ لِيَصْمُتْ".
It is narrated from Sayyiduna Ibn Umar (may Allah be pleased with them both) that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) heard Sayyiduna Umar bin Al-Khattab (may Allah be pleased with him) swear by his father in a caravan, so he said: "Indeed, Allah Almighty forbids you from swearing by your forefathers. So now, whoever wants to swear an oath, let him swear by Allah, otherwise let him remain silent."
Hadith Reference سنن دارمي / من النذور و الايمان / 2378
Hadith Grading تحقیق (حسین سلیم أسد الدارانی): إسناده صحيح والحديث متفق عليه، [مكتبه الشامله نمبر: 2386]
Hadith Takhrij اس حدیث کی سند صحیح متفق علیہ ہے۔ دیکھئے: [بخاري 2679] ، [مسلم 1646] ، [أبوداؤد 3249] ، [ترمذي 1534] ، [نسائي 3776] ، [ابن ماجه 2094] ، [أبويعلی 5430] ، [ابن حبان 4359] ، [الحميدي 703]
Brief Explanation
(Commentary on Hadith 2377)

From this hadith, it is understood that swearing by one’s father or by anyone else besides Allah is prohibited, and some scholars have even declared swearing by other than Allah to be haram (forbidden).

The detail of this matter is that the one by whom an oath is sworn is considered to possess greatness and majesty, and people swear by them considering them to be great. However, there is none greater than Allah; He is the Most High and the Most Great. Therefore, one may only swear by Allah. Swearing by any prophet, saint (wali), father, or spiritual guide (pir faqir), while holding the belief that they are very great and mighty, would constitute associating partners with Allah (shirk).

And in an authentic hadith it is stated: Whoever swears by other than Allah has committed shirk or has uttered falsehood. Therefore, one should avoid swearing by other than Allah.

At times, such words have also been uttered by the blessed tongue of the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam: «أَفْلَحَ وَأَبِيْهِ إِنْ صَدَقَ — but this is not an oath, rather it is said idiomatically, or it will be counted among vain oaths (laghw al-yamin), or it is possible that these words were spoken before the prohibition was revealed. Similarly, swearing by the Qur’an is not permissible, and if such an oath has been taken, one should repent and seek forgiveness.