Book of Oaths
First Major Division: On the various kinds of oaths and their legal rulings
Chapter One: On identifying the oaths that are permissible and distinguishing them from those that are not
This book is initially divided into two main parts:
- Knowledge of the kinds of oaths and their rulings.
- Knowledge of the matters that annul binding oaths and the rulings that pertain to them.
The first part consists of three chapters:
- Recognizing the oaths that are permitted and differentiating them from those that are not.
- Recognizing idle (linguistic) oaths and binding oaths.
- Recognizing the oaths for which expiation is effective and those for which it is not.
Chapter One: On recognizing the permissible oaths and distinguishing them from others
The majority agree that created things fall into two categories—those by which it is lawful to swear according to the Sharīʿah, and those by which it is not—but they differ over which things belong to each category.
Some hold that the only oath the Sharīʿah permits is an oath sworn by Allah, and that anyone who swears by other than Allah is sinful.
Others contend that it is permissible to swear by anything that the Sharīʿah declares exalted.
Those who say that permissible oaths are restricted to swearing by Allah concur that it is lawful to swear by His Names, yet they disagree concerning oaths taken by His Attributes or Actions.
Their divergence over swearing by something other than Allah—even though the Sharīʿah exalts it—stems from a perceived conflict between the outward sense of the Qur’an and the transmitted report.
In the Qur’an, Allah swears by many created things, such as His words:
“By the sky and the night-comer” (Q 86:1)
and His words:
“By the star when it sets” (Q 53:1),
along with other oaths found throughout the Qur’an.
It is also firmly established that the Prophet—peace and blessings be upon him—said:
“Allah forbids you to swear by your forefathers; whoever must swear, let him swear by Allah or remain silent.”
Whoever reconciles the report with the Qur’an by asserting that the objects sworn by in the Qur’an contain an implicit element—namely, the phrase ‘by the Lord of …,’ so that the intended meaning is ‘By the Lord of the star’ and ‘By the Lord of the sky’—concludes that the only permissible oath is to swear solely by Allah.
But whoever reconciles them by maintaining that the ḥadith merely aims to prevent the veneration of anyone whom the Sharīʿah has not honored on the basis of evidence