that condition. In this case, divorce takes effect. Likewise, if he says, “If Allah heals my sick relative, I must fast for a month,” and that person recovers, he is obliged to fast.

The governing principle here is to consider the speaker’s intention and purpose. If his purpose is for these matters to take effect, they do so, whether declared outright or made conditional with the intention that they take effect when the condition is fulfilled. But if his purpose is to swear an oath by them, while disliking their taking effect should he break his oath, even if the condition is fulfilled, then he is swearing an oath by them, not bringing them into effect. His statement therefore falls under “oaths,” not “pronouncing divorce and making vows.”

Someone swearing an oath undertakes a commitment whose fulfilment he dislikes should he act contrary to his oath. For example, he might say, “If I do such-and-such, then I am a Jew or a Christian, my wives are divorced, my slaves are free, and I must walk to the House of Allah.” This and similar statements constitute an oath. This differs from someone who intends the consequence to take effect, whether by making a vow, pronouncing divorce, or making a conditional declaration: such a person intends and chooses to be bound by what he has undertaken. Both undertake a commitment, but the person swearing an oath dislikes the stipulated consequence taking effect, even if the condition on which it depends is fulfilled.

For example, if someone says, “If I do such-and-such, then I am a Jew or a Christian,” he dislikes disbelief even if the condition is fulfilled. Thus, he is swearing an oath. By contrast, someone bringing a consequence into effect intends that stipulated consequence to take effect when the condition on which it depends is fulfilled, whether he desires that condition, dislikes it, or does not desire it. Such a person is bringing the consequence into effect, not swearing an oath. Both undertake a conditional commitment, but the person swearing an oath dislikes the consequence taking effect.

This distinction is established from the Companions of the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, and the leading Successors. It is supported by the Quran and the Sunnah and is the position of the majority of scholars.