Source: Fatāwā Amunpuri — by Shaykh Ghulam Mustafa Zaheer Amunpuri
My father took an oath from me that I should not eat chicken. I replied: “By Allah! I will not eat chicken, in shā’ Allāh.” May I now eat chicken?
If “in shā’ Allāh” is said along with an oath, the oath becomes ineffective, and breaking it does not require expiation. Therefore, you may eat chicken; no expiation is due upon you.
“There is consensus among the scholars that if a person takes an oath saying: ‘By Allah! in shā’ Allāh, I shall repay the debt tomorrow, or pay blood money, or return something usurped, or pray ẓuhr or ʿaṣr, or fast in Ramadan,’ etc., and then he does not fulfil the oath, no expiation becomes obligatory, because he had stated ‘in shā’ Allāh,’ meaning: if Allah wills, I will do it; and Allah did not will that he should do it.”
(Majmūʿat al-Rasā’il wa al-Masā’il, 5/151)
“After taking an oath regarding any matter, if one says: ‘By Allah! in shā’ Allāh, I shall do such-and-such,’ or says: ‘If Allah wills, I shall do it,’ or: ‘If Allah does not will, then I shall not do it,’ then these phrases are valid. Likewise, if he says: ‘If I will, I shall do it,’ or: ‘If I do not will, I shall not do it,’ or: ‘I shall do it unless Allah changes my intention or I become occupied with something else,’ or he attaches it to the will of another being such as: ‘If so-and-so wills, I shall do it,’ then all these forms render the oath ineffective. Even if he breaks the oath afterward, no expiation becomes obligatory.”
(Al-Muḥallā bil-Āthār, 6/301)
“The Prophet of Allah, Sulaymān bin Dāwūd عليهما السلام, took an oath that he would visit his seventy wives that night, each of whom would give birth to a boy who would fight in the path of Allah. His companion or an angel said to him: ‘Say: in shā’ Allāh.’ Sulaymān عليهما السلام forgot to say ‘in shā’ Allāh.’ Only one woman gave birth, and that too to a child with physical impairment. The Messenger of Allah صلى الله عليه وسلم said: ‘Had Sulaymān عليهما السلام said in shā’ Allāh, his oath would not have been broken and his need would have been fulfilled.’”
(Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim: 1654)
من حلف على يمين، فقال: إن شاء الله فقد استثنى
“Whoever takes an oath and says ‘in shā’ Allāh’ has made an exception.”
(Musnad Aḥmad: 2/10; Sunan Abī Dāwūd: 3261; Sunan al-Nasā’ī: 3860; Sunan al-Tirmidhī: 1531; Sunan Ibn Mājah: 2105 — sanad ṣaḥīḥ)
Imām al-Tirmidhī graded it ḥasan, and Imām Ibn al-Jārūd (928), Imām Abū ʿAwanah (5991), and Imām Ibn Ḥibbān (4339) graded it ṣaḥīḥ.
من حلف فاستثنى، فإن شاء رجع وإن شاء ترك غير حنث
“Whoever takes an oath and adds an exception (by saying in shā’ Allāh), then if he wishes he may do the act, and if he wishes he may leave it; he does not incur expiation.”
(Sunan Abī Dāwūd: 3262 — sanad ṣaḥīḥ)
❖ Question
My father took an oath from me that I should not eat chicken. I replied: “By Allah! I will not eat chicken, in shā’ Allāh.” May I now eat chicken?
❖ Answer
If “in shā’ Allāh” is said along with an oath, the oath becomes ineffective, and breaking it does not require expiation. Therefore, you may eat chicken; no expiation is due upon you.
❀ Statement of Shaykh al-Islām Ibn Taymiyyah رحمه الله (728 AH)
“There is consensus among the scholars that if a person takes an oath saying: ‘By Allah! in shā’ Allāh, I shall repay the debt tomorrow, or pay blood money, or return something usurped, or pray ẓuhr or ʿaṣr, or fast in Ramadan,’ etc., and then he does not fulfil the oath, no expiation becomes obligatory, because he had stated ‘in shā’ Allāh,’ meaning: if Allah wills, I will do it; and Allah did not will that he should do it.”
(Majmūʿat al-Rasā’il wa al-Masā’il, 5/151)
❀ Statement of Ḥāfiẓ Ibn Ḥazm رحمه الله (456 AH)
“After taking an oath regarding any matter, if one says: ‘By Allah! in shā’ Allāh, I shall do such-and-such,’ or says: ‘If Allah wills, I shall do it,’ or: ‘If Allah does not will, then I shall not do it,’ then these phrases are valid. Likewise, if he says: ‘If I will, I shall do it,’ or: ‘If I do not will, I shall not do it,’ or: ‘I shall do it unless Allah changes my intention or I become occupied with something else,’ or he attaches it to the will of another being such as: ‘If so-and-so wills, I shall do it,’ then all these forms render the oath ineffective. Even if he breaks the oath afterward, no expiation becomes obligatory.”
(Al-Muḥallā bil-Āthār, 6/301)
① Narration of Sayyidunā Abū Hurayrah رضي الله عنه
“The Prophet of Allah, Sulaymān bin Dāwūd عليهما السلام, took an oath that he would visit his seventy wives that night, each of whom would give birth to a boy who would fight in the path of Allah. His companion or an angel said to him: ‘Say: in shā’ Allāh.’ Sulaymān عليهما السلام forgot to say ‘in shā’ Allāh.’ Only one woman gave birth, and that too to a child with physical impairment. The Messenger of Allah صلى الله عليه وسلم said: ‘Had Sulaymān عليهما السلام said in shā’ Allāh, his oath would not have been broken and his need would have been fulfilled.’”
(Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim: 1654)
② Narration of Sayyidunā ʿAbdullāh bin ʿUmar رضي الله عنهما
من حلف على يمين، فقال: إن شاء الله فقد استثنى
“Whoever takes an oath and says ‘in shā’ Allāh’ has made an exception.”
(Musnad Aḥmad: 2/10; Sunan Abī Dāwūd: 3261; Sunan al-Nasā’ī: 3860; Sunan al-Tirmidhī: 1531; Sunan Ibn Mājah: 2105 — sanad ṣaḥīḥ)
Imām al-Tirmidhī graded it ḥasan, and Imām Ibn al-Jārūd (928), Imām Abū ʿAwanah (5991), and Imām Ibn Ḥibbān (4339) graded it ṣaḥīḥ.
❀ Additional Narration
من حلف فاستثنى، فإن شاء رجع وإن شاء ترك غير حنث
“Whoever takes an oath and adds an exception (by saying in shā’ Allāh), then if he wishes he may do the act, and if he wishes he may leave it; he does not incur expiation.”
(Sunan Abī Dāwūd: 3262 — sanad ṣaḥīḥ)
