obligatory; for He, glorified is He, did not make that act of worship obligatory in the first place. Rather, He is pleased with His servant fulfilling the obligatory duties and avoiding what is forbidden. Yet the person making this vow may have neglected many of Allah’s rights, then offered that vow in return for that blessing. That blessing is too great for Allah to bestow it merely in exchange for such a paltry offering.

If, however, the offering is great and the servant is obedient to Allah, then he is too dear to Allah for Him to make him resort to such a great offering. A vow is therefore not a means of obtaining what one seeks, unlike supplication, which is among the greatest means. Likewise, Allah Most High has made charity and other acts of worship means of obtaining good and warding off evil when the servant performs them on his own initiative.

As for what he does by way of a vow, it neither brings him benefit nor wards off harm. Rather, he was miserly, but once he made the vow, fulfilling it became binding upon him. Thus, through vows Allah Most High extracts something from the miser: he gives because of the vow what he would not have given without it. And Allah knows best.