—concluding the pledge as they would a contract of sale, marriage, or the like. Alternatively, they would state the conditions upon which they pledged allegiance, then say, “We pledge allegiance to you on these terms,” as the Ansār pledged allegiance to the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, on the night of al-‘Aqaba.

Among the oppressive practices introduced by al-Hajjāj was requiring people to confirm their allegiance to ‘Abd al-Malik ibn Marwān through oaths invoking divorce, manumission, an oath by Allah, and the giving of their wealth in charity. These four oaths constituted the original, innovated oaths of allegiance. Later, deputies acting on behalf of rulers—caliphs, kings, and others—introduced many additional oaths, with practices varying among them. Whoever introduced this bears the sin of the evil resulting from these oaths.

Second Premise

These oaths are sworn either using an oath formula or a conditional formula. An oath cannot fall outside these two forms.

The first includes statements such as: “By Allah, I shall not do such-and-such”; “I bind myself by divorce to do such-and-such”; “Prohibition shall be binding upon me: I shall not do such-and-such”; or “The pilgrimage shall be binding upon me: I shall not do it.”

The second includes statements such as: “If I do such-and-such, then I am a Jew, a Christian, or free of Islam”; “If I do such-and-such, then my wife is divorced”; “If I do such-and-such, then my wife is forbidden to me,” or “she is to me like my mother’s back”; or “If I do such-and-such, then the pilgrimage is binding upon me,” or “my wealth is to be given in charity.”

For this reason, the jurists devoted two chapters to questions concerning oaths. One is the “Chapter on Making Divorce Conditional,” in which they discuss oaths expressed in conditional form, using such expressions as “if,” “whenever,” “when,” and expressions like