bringing about the desired result—indeed, not even a part of it. He has no true knowledge of this; he merely entertains a baseless fancy, exactly as he does with vows.

For in the Ṣaḥīḥ collections it is reported from Ibn ʿUmar that the Prophet—may Allah bless him and grant him peace—prohibited making vows, saying, “They do not bring any good; they are only a means of extracting something from the miser.”

Likewise, Abu Hurayrah relates that the Prophet—may Allah bless him and grant him peace—said, “A vow does not draw to the child of Adam anything that Allah had not already decreed for him. All that a vow does is coincide with the decree, and thereby what the miser would not otherwise have given is taken from him.”

Thus the Prophet—peace and blessings be upon him—made it clear that vows bring no good and are in no sense causes that procure benefit or repel harm. At most, they merely coincide with what has already been ordained, just as other outward causes may do, so that the miser then parts with wealth he would not previously have released.

Even so, you will find that those who claim they were caught in dire straits and then made vows that lifted their hardship are more—if not at least as many—as those who boast that they supplicated at graves or elsewhere and had their needs fulfilled. Indeed, because so many misleaders have duped people with this notion, illicit vows—vows the Sacred Law forbids—have become a livelihood for numerous custodians, attendants, and devotees who stay around certain mosques and other places, from which they draw large sums of money.

As for the people making these vows, one will say, “I fell ill, so I made a vow.” Another says, “Bandits assailed me, so I made a vow.” A third says