to the graves of all the other prophets as well.”

For the same reason, people have differed over whether one may swear by the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, despite agreeing that one must not swear by any revered created thing, such as the Throne, the Footstool, the Kaaba, or the angels. The majority of scholars—including Mālik, al-Shāfi‘ī, Abū Hanīfa, and Ahmad according to one of his two positions—held that one must not swear by the Prophet and that such an oath is not legally binding, just as one must not swear by any created thing. No expiation is required of someone who swears by any of these things and then breaks his oath.

For it is authentically reported that he, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said:

“Do not swear except by Allah.”

He also said:

“Whoever wishes to swear, let him swear by Allah or remain silent.”

And in the Sunan collections:

“Whoever swears by other than Allah has committed shirk.”

There is another position reported from Ahmad ibn Hanbal permitting an oath by the Prophet alone, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, because belief in him in particular is obligatory, as is mentioning him in the two testimonies of faith and in the call to prayer. Belief in him thus has a distinctive status shared by no one else.

Ibn ‘Aqīl said: “Rather, this is because he is a prophet.” This ruling was then extended to all the other prophets. Yet the correct position, held by the general body of Muslim scholars, both earlier and later, is that one must not swear by any created being: neither a prophet nor anyone else, neither an angel, nor a king, nor a shaykh.

Most of them understand this prohibition as rendering the act unlawful, as in the school of Abū Hanīfa and others. This is also one of the two positions in Ahmad’s school, as mentioned earlier. Indeed, Ibn Mas‘ūd, Ibn ‘Abbās, and others would each say:

“I would rather swear falsely by Allah than