Al-Sharḥ al-Mumtiʿ - Ibn al-'Uthaymin - (13/161)

Al-Sharḥ al-MumtiʿIbn al-'Uthaymin

The correct view in this issue is that he has not broken his oath, neither in divorce nor in manumission. For we have a principle established by the One to whom judgment belongs—Allah, the Exalted. He said concerning the words of the believers: “Our Lord, do not take us to task if we forget or make a mistake” [al-Baqarah 2:286]. He said: “I have done so.” (1) And Allah, the Exalted, says: “There is no blame upon you for what you do by mistake, but only for what your hearts deliberately intend” [al-Ahzab 33:5]. Even an oath which a person utters without intending to contract it counts for nothing. Allah, the Exalted, says: “Allah will not take you to task for thoughtless oaths, but He will take you to task for the oaths you deliberately bind yourselves by” [al-Ma'idah 5:89]. Accordingly, his wife is not divorced by this, nor is his slave manumitted by it. This was the view preferred by Shaykh al-Islam Ibn Taymiyyah, may Allah have mercy on him.

Likewise, if he swears concerning something which he believes to be a certain way but which is not in fact so, then he has not broken his oath—except, according to the school of law, in matters of divorce and manumission. For example, if he says, “If so-and-so has arrived, then my wife is divorced,” believing that he has not arrived, the established position of the school is that his wife is divorced.

The correct view is that she is not divorced, because his case is that of an oath. It is authentically reported that a man said to the Messenger, peace and blessings be upon him, after he told him, “Take this and give it in charity”: “Am I to give it to someone poorer than myself, O Messenger of Allah? By Allah, there is no household between its two lava fields poorer than my own.” (2) He swore to this, but had he searched the houses?! He had not searched them; rather, he swore according to what he believed. Likewise,

(1) Reported by Muslim in Kitab al-Iman (The Book of Faith), chapter: “Clarifying that Allah does not burden [a person] except with what he is able to bear,” no. 126, on the authority of Ibn Abbas. (2) Reported by al-Bukhari in Kitab al-Sawm (The Book of Fasting), chapter: “If one has intercourse during Ramadan ...,” no. 1936; and by Muslim in Kitab al-Siyam (The Book of Fasting), chapter: “The prohibition of intercourse during the month of Ramadan ...,” no. 1111.

والصواب في هذه المسألة: أنه لا حنث عليه لا في الطلاق ولا في العتق؛ لأن لدينا قاعدة ممن له الحكم، وهو الله ﵎، فقد قال في قول المؤمنين: ﴿رَبَّنَا لَا تُؤَاخِذْنَا إِنْ نَسِيْنَا أَوْ أَخْطَأْنَا﴾ [البقرة: ٢٨٦]: «قد فعلت» (١)، وقال تعالى: ﴿وَلَيْسَ عَلَيْكُمْ جُنَاحٌ فِيمَا أَخْطَأْتُمْ بِهِ وَلَكِنْ مَا تَعَمَّدَتْ قُلُوبُكُمْ﴾ [الأحزاب: ٥] حتى اليمين إذا حلف الإنسان وهو لم يعقدها لم تكن شيئاً، قال الله تعالى: ﴿لَا يُؤَاخِذُكُمُ اللَّهُ بِاللَّغْوِ فِي أَيْمَانِكُمْ وَلَكِنْ يُؤَاخِذُكُمْ بِمَا عَقَّدْتُّمُ الأَيْمَانَ﴾ [المائدة: ٨٩]، وعلى هذا فلا تطلق زوجته بذلك، ولا يعتق عبده بذلك، وهذا هو اختيار شيخ الإسلام ابن تيمية ﵀. كذلك لو حلف على شيء يظن أنه كذا وليس كذلك؛ فإنه لا حنث عليه إلا في الطلاق والعتق، مثل أن يقول: إن كان فلان قادماً فزوجتي طالق، وظنه أنه لم يقدم، فالمذهب أن الزوجة تطلق. والصواب: أنها لا تطلق؛ لأن حكمه حكم اليمين، وقد ثبت أن رجلاً قال للرسول ﵊ لما قال: «خذ هذا فتصدق به»، فقال الرجل: أعَلى أفقر مني يا رسول الله، فوالله ما بين لابتيها أهل بيت أفقر مني (٢)، حلف على هذا، وهل هو قد فتش البيوت؟! ما فتش، ولكنه حلف على ظنه، وكذلك

(١) أخرجه مسلم في الإيمان/ باب بيان أنه ﷾ لم يكلف إلا ما يطاق (١٢٦) عن ابن عباس ﵄. (٢) أخرجه البخاري في الصوم/ باب إذا جامع في رمضان … (١٩٣٦)، ومسلم في الصيام/ باب تحريم الجماع في شهر رمضان … (١١١١).