A number of scholars hold that a sinful vow never takes effect in the first place and therefore requires no expiation. This view is reported from Aḥmad and is the official position of Abū Ḥanīfah, Mālik, and al-Shāfiʿī; it is also the opinion preferred by Shaykh al-Islām Ibn Taymiyyah. He said: “Whoever places a lamp on a grave, a cemetery, a mountain, or a tree, or makes a vow for it, for those buried there, or for anyone attached to that place—such an act is impermissible, and by unanimous agreement it may not be fulfilled. Instead, the money is redirected to communal benefits, so long as its owner is unknown….”

5. The vow of devotion (a vow of obedience). This refers to promising an act of worship such as prayer, fasting, pilgrimage, and the like. It may be unrestricted—meaning not tied to a condition, as when someone says, “I owe Allah that I will pray and fast…”—or it may be conditional, as when he says, “If Allah cures my patient, then I owe Allah such-and-such.” Once the condition occurs, fulfillment becomes obligatory, for the Prophet ﷺ declared, “Whoever vows to obey Allah must obey Him,” recorded by al-Bukhārī. The same ruling is affirmed by the words of the Exalted: “They fulfill their vows” ⦗76:7⦘ and “Let them fulfill their vows” ⦗22:29⦘. And Allah knows best.