say: “This impairs his intention.” They hold that if he intends the qualification to apply to his request and intention, it avails him with regard to expiation, or that the obligation of expiation is removed only on this condition. An opinion comes to mind here, but I cannot recall it with certainty.

Third: His purpose may be to make neither of them conditional, for he is firm in his intention and certain that the event will occur. This also applies to a purely factual assertion, such as saying: “The son of Mary shall certainly descend, the Dajjāl (False Messiah) shall certainly emerge, and the Hour shall certainly come.”

These are oaths of a kind that Allah commanded His Messenger to swear, as in His words:

“They ask you, ‘Is it true?’ Say, ‘Yes, by my Lord.’”

This concerns the past and present. He also says:

“Those who disbelieve say, ‘The Hour will never come upon us.’ Say, ‘Yes, by my Lord, it will certainly come upon you.’”

And He says:

“Those who disbelieve claim that they will never be resurrected. Say, ‘Yes, by my Lord, you will certainly be resurrected.’”

He thus commanded him to swear that the Hour would come and that people would be raised from their graves—both being independent events brought about by another. This is like the Prophet’s statement to ʿUmar, may Allah bless him and grant him peace: “I shall certainly come to it and circumambulate it.”

Here, when someone says, “If Allah wills,” his purpose may not be to make the assertion conditional, but rather to affirm it, as in His words:

“You will certainly enter the Sacred Mosque, if Allah wills.”

This is a valid statement, since no event occurs except by Allah’s will. It is like saying: “It will certainly happen if the causes of its occurrence come together.” People know that if Allah wills it, and if the causes of its occurrence come together, it will happen. If he is not informing them of that, his words convey nothing useful.