Khuwailid al-ʿAnizi (1) who said: ʿAbd Allah took me by the hand, and when we reached a point overlooking the dam (2) and he caught sight of the marketplace, he said (3), “O Allah, I ask You for its good and the good of its people, and I seek refuge in You from its evil and the evil of its people.”
He continued: We passed by a man who was swearing by a surah of the Quran, or by a single verse (4). ʿAbd Allah squeezed my hand (5) and said, “Do you think he has thereby fallen into disbelief? Or does every verse count as an oath?” (6)
There is no disagreement (7) among the ummah that swearing by created things—such as the Kaʿbah and the like—does not entail a binding legal oath, except for the point some have disputed regarding swearing by the Messenger of Allah—peace and blessings be upon him—because faith in him constitutes one of the two pillars of faith (8).
= Wilāyat Khalid al-Qasri.
See: Al-Tabaqāt al-Kubrā by Ibn Sa‘d, vol. 6, pp. 115–116; Al-Jarḥ wa al-Ta‘dīl by Ibn Abī Ḥātim, vol. 2/2, p. 196, no. 908; Tahdhīb al-Tahdhīb by Ibn Ḥajar, vol. 6, p. 62.
(1) In Sharḥ Usūl ʿAqīdat Ahl al-Sunnah: “‘an Hanzala ‘an Khuwailid al-Anazī,” which is erroneous. It should read Hanzala ibn Khuwailid al-Anazī, who narrated from ʿAmr ibn Masʿūd. Al-Dārimī reports that Ibn Muʿīn described him as thiqah (trustworthy), and Ibn Ḥibbān lists him among the reliable narrators. See Jarḥ wa al-Taʿdīl by Ibn Abī Ḥātim, vol. 2/1, p. 240, no. 1067; Tahdhīb al-Tahdhīb by Ibn Ḥajar, vol. 3, pp. 59–60.
(2) In Sharḥ Usūl ʿAqīdat Ahl al-Sunnah: “as-saddah.” Saddah (with kasrah) means “doorway” or “entrance of a house”; sadd (with kasrah then fatḥah) means “mountain” or “barrier/embankment.” See Lisān al-ʿArab by Ibn Manẓūr, vol. 3, pp. 207, 209 (saddad).
(3) In all manuscripts: “qāla” (he said). The reading adopted in Sharḥ Usūl ʿAqīdat Ahl al-Sunnah is …
(4) In the S and Ṭ manuscripts: “wa” (and).
(5) In S: “faghamaranī” (he overwhelmed me). In Sharḥ Usūl ʿAqīdat Ahl al-Sunnah: “faghamaza” (he made a sign).
(6) ʿAbd al-Razzāq records a similar report in his Musannaf, vol. 8, p. 472, no. 15947: from Ath-Thawrī from al-A‘mash from ʿAbdallāh ibn Marrah from Abū Kanfa that Ibn Masʿūd passed by a man reciting “Sūrat al-Baqarah” and said, “Do you think that absolves him? For every verse in it he swears an oath.”
(7) In S: “wanizāʻ,” which is a scribal error.
(8) Ibn Qudāmah states: “It is not permissible to swear by anything other than Allāh and His attributes, for instance: to swear by one’s father or …”