Is Swearing by the Qur’an Permissible in Islam?

Source: Fatāwā Amunpuri by Shaykh Ghulām Muṣṭafā Ẓahīr Amunpuri

Question:​

Is the Noble Qur’an considered other than Allah (ghayr Allah) or not, and is it permissible to swear an oath by it?

Answer:​

The Qur’an is the Speech of Allah Almighty. The Speech of Allah is one of His Attributes, and the creed of Ahl al-Sunnah is that the Divine Attributes are not separate from Allah Almighty. Therefore, it is permissible to take an oath by both the Essence of Allah Almighty and His Attributes.

❀ Ḥāfiẓ Ibn ʿAbd al-Barr رحمه الله (463 AH) writes:

“There is consensus that whoever swears an oath by Allah, by any of the Names of Allah, by any of His Attributes, by the Noble Qur’an, or by any part of it, and then breaks that oath, the expiation (kaffārah) prescribed by Allah in the Qur’an becomes obligatory upon him. Among the scholars of subsidiary matters, there is no difference of opinion in this regard. The scholars are unanimously agreed that the explicit wording of an oath by Allah is with these words: billāh, Allāh, wallāh.”

Reference: al-Tamhīd limā fī al-Muwaṭṭaʾ min al-Maʿānī wa al-Asānīd: 14/369

❀ ʿAllāmah Ibn Abī al-ʿIzz رحمه الله (792 AH) writes:

“Swearing an oath by the Qur’an is permissible, as is the stance of the three Imams, because this has become customary in our time. The statement of the one who says that it is not permissible to swear by the Qur’an on the claim that it is created is not worthy of attention. Declaring the Qur’an to be created is the doctrine of the Muʿtazilah, and this is disbelief, because it is well known that the Qur’an is not a creation of Allah, rather it is His Speech.”

Reference: al-Tanbīh ʿalā Mushkilāt al-Hidāyah: 4/86–87