if hewas to relieve me of an ailment that I had, that Iwould do
'jummah' Salah on Fridays for sure. Alhumdulillah the ailment soon
disappeared. The issue is that this promise was made when I was
younger, when I was a less practicing Muslim than I am now, and when I
made the promise to Allah, I remember saying that I would do 'jummah'
namaz. however what I meant is that I would doat least one of the
Salah's (ie either fajr,zuhar,asr,magrib or isha) on Fridays (as I did
not used to pray often). When making the promise, and I did not mean
to promise that I would go to cogregrational prayer (jummah)…I now
know what jummah prayer is, and instead have been praying at least one
salah on Fridays, and I now that women are not required to attend
jummah anyway. So with this promise I made to Allah, because I used
the word jummah does it mean that I have to attend jummah prayers in
congregation, even though I did not mean to promise this?...so by
using a word, does it mean you have to do exactly THAT, or what your
INTENTION was?
Praise be to Allah.
Firstly:
We have stated on several occasions that vows connected to conditions
are makrooh,because of the report narrated by al-Bukhaari (6608) and
Muslim (1639) from Ibn 'Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) who said:
The Prophet (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) forbade making
vows and said: "They do not avert anything, all they do is get
somethingout of a stingy person."
If a person wants to obey Allah and draw close to Him, he should obey
Him without making vows.
See the answers to questions no. 95387and 132579
Secondly:
Oaths and vows depend on the intention of the one who makes them.
See the answer to question no. 147340
Shaykh Ibn 'Uthaymeen (may Allah have mercy on him) was asked about an
elderly woman who said that fifty-five years ago she became very sick,
then one day she recovered and she said out of joy, I shall offer
charity and make avow, and she said that she would fast for two
consecutive months. She says: At that time I did not know what a vow
meant and what the consequences would be for me. What should she do
about her vow to fastfor two consecutive months without knowing what a
vow means and what its consequences are?
He replied:
What appears to be to be the case is that this woman does not have
todo anything, because so long as she did not know what a vow was, she
is not obliged to do something that she did not understand the meaning
of. But I think that she must have had something in mind, otherwise
her words were just idle talk. So wesay that if she had something in
mind at that time, then what she had in mind is what she must do,
because what counts is the intention. But if she did not have anything
in mind and she did not know what it meant at all or what a vow meant,
then it seems to me that she does not have to do anything. But if she
doesfast that will be more on the safe side and more certain that she
will be absolved of responsibility. End quote.
Jalasaat Ramadaaniyyah, 21/17
Thirdly:
There should not be any vow to do something that Allah has enjoined
upon people. al-Mirdaawi (may Allah have mercy on him) said
inal-Insaaf(11/118) (see alsoBadaa'i' as-Sanaa'i', 5/90):
"It is not valid with regard to something impossible or
somethingobligatory. If he says, "I promise Allah that I will fast
yesterday or that I will fast Ramadan," it does not count. It is not
valid to make a vow concerning something impossible or
obligatory,according to the correct opinion. This is the view of our
companions. End quote.
Based on the above:
If you did not know that what is meant by the word jamaa'ah is praying
in the mosque with the congregation (jamaa'ah) of worshippers, and you
did not intend that in your vow, then you do not have to do anything.
If your aim was to force yourself to offer one of the prayers on
Friday, and you used not to prayat that time, then in fact what you
have to do is offer all the five daily prayers on Fridays and on all
other days, because Allah has enjoined that upon His slaves, and your
vow does not imply anything in addition to that.
You should also strive hard to offer a lot of supererogatory (naafil)
and voluntary prayers tomake up for the shortfalland your prior
negligence towards the obligatory prayers.
And Allah knows best.
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