Taysīr al-ʿAllām - Abd Allah al-Bassam - (695)

Taysīr al-ʿAllāmAbd Allah al-Bassam

Another point: no one may draw near to Allah through any devotional practice except what He Himself has legislated. The default rule for acts of worship is prohibition; nothing becomes prescribed unless Allah and His Messenger have prescribed it. Whoever adds to the revealed law has, in effect, presumed to amend what Allah, exalted is He, and His Messenger ﷺ have laid down.
The ḥadith also discloses some of the reasons why the Lawgiver dislikes vows—chief among them a person’s inability to carry out what he has vowed. It seems that when this woman pledged to travel on foot she realized she lacked the strength, and so was forced to seek a way out of her predicament.

The fourth ḥadith

ʿAbd Allah ibn ʿAbbās ﵄ narrated: “Saʿd ibn ʿUbādah asked the Messenger of Allah ﷺ for a ruling about a vow that his mother had taken upon herself but died before fulfilling. The Messenger of Allah ﷺ said, ‘Fulfil it on her behalf.’ ”

Lessons derived from the ḥadith

A vow is an act of worship whose fulfilment is obligatory.
If a person dies owing a vow, his heir should discharge it on his behalf.
The narration does not specify the kind of vow involved—whether it was bodily or financial. As for financial vows—including the Pilgrimage—the majority of scholars allow them to be carried out by proxy. As mentioned earlier, the sound view on fasting is that bodily obligations, too, may be fulfilled by a proxy, based on the marfūʿ hadith of ʿĀʾishah in the two Ṣaḥīḥs: “Whoever dies owing a fast, his guardian should fast on his behalf.”

Concerning Saʿd’s mother, some say her vow was fasting; others, the manumission of a slave; others, charity; still others hold it was an unspecified vow. Each group supports its view with various reports. The narrations regarding fasting and manumission have been critically examined by the scholars. As for the report about charity, it is not explicit that she had vowed that particular act.

Qāḍī ʿIyāḍ stated: “What appears most likely is that her vow concerned property, or that it was left undefined.” Ibn Ḥajar added: “Indeed, the apparent sense of this very ḥadith is that it was a specific financial obligation owed by Saʿd.”

The ḥadith also teaches filial piety after the parents’ death. The greatest form of such piety is to discharge whatever debts, obligations, or rights remain upon them, whether those pertain to Allah Most High or to other people.

٣- ومنها: - أنه لا يتعبد بما إلا شرعه الله تعالى من الطاعات. فالأصل في العبادات الحظر، فلا يشرع إلا ما شرعه الله ورسوله. ومن زاد في الشرع، فقد أراد الاستدراك على الله تعالى ورسوله، ﷺ. ٤- في الحديث بيان لبعض العلل في كراهية الشارع للنذر، وهو العجز عن القيام بالمنذور. فالظاهر أن هذه المرأة لما نذرت المشي، علمت من نفسها عدم القدرة، فاضطرت إلى الخروج من هذا المأزق. الحديث الرابع عَنْ عَبدِ اللَه بن عباس ﵄: أنَّهُ قالَ: "اسْتَفْتى سَعْدُ ابْنُ عبادَةَ رَسُولَ الله ﷺ في نَذْر كان عَلَى أمه، تُوُفِّيَتْ قَبْلَ أنْ تَقضِيَهُ. فَقَالَ رَسُولُ اللَه ﷺ: " فاقضه عَنْهَا ". ما يستفاد من الحديث: ١- أن النذر عبادة، يجب الوفاء بها، وأداؤها. ٢- أن من مات وعليه ننر، قضاه عنه وارثه. ٣- لم يذكر في هذا الحديث نوع النذر: هل هو بدنيٌ أو مالٌي؟. فأما المالي- ومنه الحج- فتدخله النيابة عند جمهور العلماء. وقد تقدم أن الصحيح في الصيام أن النيابة تدخل البدني أيضاً، لحديث عائشة في الصحيحين مرفوعا: "من مات وعليه صوم صام عنه وليه". ونذر أم سعد قيل، كان صوما. وقيل: عتقا، وقيل: صدقة، وقيل: نذراً مطلقاً. وكل من هذه الأقوال استدل أصحابها عليها بأحاديث. وحديث الصوم والعتق، قد تكلم فيهما العلماء. وأما حديث الصدقة، فليس صريحاً أنها نذرت ذلك. وقال القاضي عياض: (والذي يظهر، أنه كان نذرها في المال أو مبهما) . وقال ابن حجر: (بل ظاهر حديث الباب أنه كان معينا عن سعد) . ٤- وفي الحديث بر الوالدين بعد وفاتهما. وأعظم برهما وفاء ما عليهما من الديون أو الحقوق والواجبات، سواء كانت لله تعالى أو للآدميين.