Desirable and Undesirable Oaths
Since oaths are sworn in order either to present
oneself or the Almighty as witness to some facts, in both cases, the oath-taker
puts his honor or religion on stake. It is not something to play with. This
entails that an oath may not be taken unless in grave matters and that too with
solemn resolution. This is why it has been forbidden in certain cases:
i.
from the perspective
of muqsam ‘alayhi
ii.
from the perspective
of muqsam bihī
iii.
from the perspective
of the both.
i. Whoever takes an oath in every petty matter
proves to be an unserious person. Such a man does not succeed in upholding his
personal honor. That is why the Almighty has forbidden this act in the Qur’ān.
The relevant Qur’ānic verse uses very emphatic language. The Almighty says:
Heed not every despicable (mahīn) swearer (ḥallāf). (Q 68:10)
Whoever takes to swearing an oath on every petty
matter puts himself down no matter he swears by God or anything else. He is an
unreasonable person who gets enraged or laughs out without provocation. This
renders swearing undesirable considering the muqsam ‘alayhi.
ii. Swearing a religious oath in the name of other
than God is tantamount to taking that entity as partner besides God. The
prohibition to take an oath by an entity other than God generally shuts the
door for polytheism. This is identical to the prohibition to prostrate oneself before
other than God or carving idols as stated in the tenth commandments. Thus
swearing by other than God is prohibited. It has been said in the Old
Testament:
You shall fear the
Lord your God and serve Him, and shall take oaths in His name. (Deuteronomy
6:13)
Similarly the Prophet (sws) too prohibited taking
oaths by anything other than God.
3. Sometimes a man swears by God upon every petty
matter. Such an act combines two things, lack of personal honor and absence of
God-consciousness (taqwā). The following saying of God Almighty refers
to this aspect of oaths.
And do not use God’s
name as an excuse in your oaths. (Q 2:224)
Under these considerations, oaths are to be avoided.
Other than this, it is allowable to swear especially under social necessities
discussed in the seventh and tenth section of this work.
The Islamic sharī‘ah has been revealed for
the entire humanity. It is applicable till the Day of Judgment. It takes into
account the social and cultural needs of human beings. It does not impose
strict detailed laws in matters pertaining to cultural aspect of life. It also
considers the inherent weakness of human nature as has been alluded to in the
following verse of the Qur’ān:
God desires to lighten
your burden, for man has been created weak. (Q 4: 28)
Therefore, it was not appropriate to promulgate
absolute prohibition to swear an oath, an unavoidable proceeding in the
conducting of important religious and social issues. Similarly the sharī‘ah
has not held unintentional conversational oaths as punishable. In this regard,
the Almighty says:
God shall not call you
to account for your inadvertent oaths. However, He shall hold you accountable
for the ones that you take with intention in your hearts. Indeed God is the
Forgiving, the Tolerant. (Q 2:225)
Actions are judged by intentions. Inadvertent oaths,
though reflect incivility, are not punishable. The Lord of men forgives His
servants. He showers mercy on them considering their weakness. He does not hold
them accountable for small and insignificant errors.
The above discussion specifically pertains to the general
oaths. As for the Qur’ānic oaths they are clearly oaths of evidence, and there
is no danger of losing religion and honor in taking such an oath. No disgrace
attaches them.
The
Qur’ānic oaths mostly support assertions concerning unicity of God, the Last
Judgment and the Prophecy. All these issues are evidently glorious in nature
and most worthy to be emphasized by way of an oath. If one swears that these facts
are true he does not stake his self respect and honor. One should not prohibit
swearing of these facts fearing that affirming these facts is to admit things liable
to be untrue. Admitting such fears and doubting the veracity of these manifest
religious truths would put his faith in danger. This is because these facts do
not admit of any doubt. Such oaths reflect witnessing religious facts which the
Prophets of God have always been openly promoting. A Prophet, in his preaching
in general, claims that God has sent him knowingly. He claims that God
witnesses his veracity. He asserts that he depends upon God and relies on Him.
He states that he holds God a guarantor of his claims. These are the themes
which are stressed by swearing by God as has been explained in the tenth section.
Then why should not He adopt oaths to emphasize these claims? It is evident
that when God takes an oath by any of His creations, or by His words, there is
no possibility of polytheism in this proceeding. It is also clear that such
oaths are only taken in order to present proof for certain facts. These do not
involve any kind of glorification of muqsam bihī.
To
conclude, we hold that the objections on the Qur’ānic oaths or on the oaths of
the Prophets or the pious individuals as well as absolute prohibition of swearing
are rooted in a lack of analysis and a failure to differentiate between
different aspects of divine directives. By swearing by God, the Prophets and
the pious people express that they rely on God, turn to Him and seek His help. This
is the real picture of the question on legality of swearing an oath. However,
it has been attributed to Jesus Christ (sws) that he rendered taking an oath in
general as prohibited. We believe that this prohibition is specific and not
general. To this point now we turn.
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