Question: The sister says, “I vowed that—if Allah so willed and I reached the sacred lands and visited the Sacred House—I would fast three months: Rajab, Shaʿban and Ramadan. I have fulfilled the pilgrimage, praise be to Allah, but because of my work circumstances I could not complete the fast. Will fasting every Monday and Thursday of each week take the place of that vow or not? Is consecutive fasting required or not? And if I am still unable, will an expiation suffice? Please advise me, may Allah preserve you.”

Answer: First, we draw attention to the fact that a person should not make vows, for the Prophet ﷺ forbade them and said, “A vow brings no good; it is only extracted from a miser.”

A person, therefore, ought not to make vows. He should draw near to Allah through acts of worship without binding himself by a vow, and he should obligate himself only with what Allah has made obligatory in the very foundation of the Sharia. To throw oneself into hardship and impose upon oneself a heavy obligation—such as fasting or another act of worship that the Law has not originally required—only to feel constrained afterwards and look for loopholes, is something one must shun from the outset by avoiding vows altogether.

However, if someone does make a vow and the vow is for an act of obedience, then— as the Prophet ﷺ said—“Whoever vows to obey Allah, let him obey Him.” Allah the Exalted also says: “They fulfil their vows and fear a Day whose evil will be widespread” (al-Insan 76:7); “Whatever you spend or whatever vow you make, surely Allah knows it” (al-Baqarah 2:270); and “And let them fulfil their vows” (al-Hajj 22:29). Therefore, when a person makes a vow of obedience—a righteous vow—it becomes obligatory for him to carry it out, because he has made it binding upon himself.