An example of constructive connection is if he says, “By Allah, I will not wear this garment,” then is seized by sneezing for fifteen minutes; when the sneezing subsides, he says, “If Allah wills.” This is considered a constructive connection, because something prevented the continuity of his speech; yet it is in fact connected, since once the impediment was removed, he made this exception.

Third: he must intend the exception before completing that from which the exception is made. That is, he must say “If Allah wills” before completing the statement being qualified, as when he says, “By Allah, I will certainly wear this garment, if Allah wills.” He must intend “If Allah wills” before uttering the letter bā’ in the word “garment”; if he forms the intention afterward, it carries no weight.

Fourth: he must intend to make the matter contingent upon Allah’s will. This is because one who says, “If Allah wills,” sometimes says it seeking blessing while being firmly resolved, or as an affirmation; and at other times he says it to make the matter contingent. There is a difference between one who intends contingency and one who intends seeking blessing or affirmation. If he intends seeking blessing or affirmation, it has no effect.

Let us return to the evidence for these conditions. The proof for the first condition—that he must utter it—is the Prophet’s ﷺ statement: “Whoever swears an oath and says, ‘If Allah wills’...” (1) Speech is made with the tongue. It is also established by the hadith of Solomon ﷺ, when the angel said to him, “Say: ‘If Allah wills.’” (2)

As for the proof for the second condition—that it must be connected—they say that if it is separated, it becomes unrelated speech, with no connection to the preceding statement,