then Allah has described swearing by Allah as forbidding what is lawful. It is well known that an oath by Allah does not render something unlawful under religious law. Yet because it obliges the person swearing it to refrain from the act, it makes that act conditionally forbidden to him, though not forbidden by religious law. Thus, every oath that obliges a person to refrain from an act makes that act forbidden to him and therefore falls within the general scope of His words: “Why do you forbid yourself what Allah has made lawful for you?” [al-Tahrīm: 1].

Accordingly, His words, “Allah has already ordained for you the dissolution of your oaths” [al-Tahrīm: 2], must encompass every oath that makes something lawful forbidden, for this is the ruling pertaining to that act. It must therefore apply to all its forms, because forbidding what is lawful was the occasion for His words, “Allah has already ordained for you the dissolution of your oaths” [al-Tahrīm: 2]. When the circumstance prompting a response is general, the response must likewise be general; otherwise, it would address some cases but not others, despite the presence of a reason requiring general application. The same reasoning applies to His words, “O you who believe, do not forbid the good things Allah has made lawful for you” [al-Mā’idah: 87], through to His words, “That is the expiation for your oaths when you swear” [al-Mā’idah: 89].

Moreover, the Companions understood the wording to be general. Likewise, the scholars in general interpreted the verse as applying both to oaths by Allah and to other oaths.

We further say: Let us concede that the oath mentioned in the verse means an oath by Allah and that no binding legal consequence arises from anything other than an oath by Allah. It is nevertheless well known that swearing by the attributes of Allah, Glorified is He, is equivalent to swearing by Him—as when one says, “By Allah’s might,” “By the life of Allah,” or “By the Glorious Quran.” The permissibility of swearing by these and similar attributes has been established from the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) and the Companions. Moreover, swearing by His attributes is analogous to seeking refuge in them, for refuge may be sought only in Allah and His attributes, as in the Prophet’s words (peace and blessings be upon him): “I seek refuge in Your Face,” and “I seek refuge in the words of Allah