and His Messenger, his emigration is to Allah and His Messenger. Whoever’s emigration is for worldly gain or a woman to marry, his emigration is to that for which he emigrated.”
Section
If, however, his oath involving any of these acts took the form of a vow to Allah in gratitude to Him, it would be binding by agreement and consensus. For example, someone who desires a child, his father’s arrival, entry into Mecca, or something similar might say: “If Allah grants me a child, my father arrives, or I reach Mecca, I undertake such and such”—specifying fasting, charity, travelling on foot, emancipation, or a similar act.
Some scholars held that emancipation becomes binding through an oath by analogy with divorce, but did not hold that other acts of obedience become binding through it. This is not a sound analogy, because divorce is not something one vows to Allah, fulfils for His sake, or draws near to Him through. Others held that emancipation and all other acts of obedience by which one draws near to Allah become binding through an oath, by analogy with a vow. This is Mālik’s position and the underlying principle of his school.
Some of his rulings, however, depart from this principle and must be brought into line with it by analogy. One example is his statement that anyone who swears an oath stipulating that some of his wealth be given in charity to a particular man is instructed to fulfil it, but is not compelled to do so by a judicial ruling. By analogy, there is no distinction between this and swearing an oath stipulating the emancipation of a particular slave. He distinguished between them only out of regard for the view of those who do not consider charity binding through an oath, and because of the substantial disagreement on this matter.
Section
An oath stipulating emancipation is of two kinds:
First: an oath concerning one’s own action.
Second: an oath concerning another person’s action.
The first kind—an oath concerning one’s own action—takes one of two forms:
First: swearing not to perform an act.
Second: swearing to perform it.