Swearing (someone or something) upon other than Allah is a matter which is very sensitive for the Wahhabis.

One of their writers by the name of al-San'ani in his book Tathir al-'i'tiqad has reckoned it to be the source of shirk (polytheism) [1] and the author of al-Hadiyyat al-saniyya has called it as minor shirk. [2]

However we shall, by the Grace of God, discuss the matter without any prejudice and will take into account the Qur’an and the true sunnah of the Prophet (s) and inerrant Imams as the radiant of source for our guidance in this matter.

Our Proofs for Permissibility of Swearing upon Other than Allah

First Proof:

Qur’an is the leader, the al-Thaql al-'akbar (Greater Weight) and the living symbol of every Muslim. In this book, one can find tens of swearings upon other than Allah which, if we were to gather all of them in this book, it would lengthen our discussion.

In Sura al Shams alone, Allah Himself has sweared by nine things from His creation. They are: Sun, its light, moon, day, night, heavens, land and the human soul. [3]

Similarly, in Sura al-Nazi'at, one can find such swearing for three things [4] and in Sura al-Mursalat for two things [5]. In the same manner, such swearings have been mentioned in Sura al-Buruj, Sura al-Tariq, Sura al-Qalam, Sura al-'Asr, and Sura al-Balad.

Once more, we remind you of some examples from the Qur’an.

“I swear by the fig and the olive, And mount Sinai, And this city made secure.” (Teen: 1-3)

“I swear by the night when it draws a veil, And the day when it shines in brightness.” (Lail: 1-2)

“I swear by the daybreak, And the ten nights, And the even and the odd, And the night when it departs.” (Fajr: 1-4)

"I swear by the Mountain, And the Book written. In an outstretched fine parchment. And the House (Ka'ba) that is visited, and the elevated canopy, and the swollen sea.” (Tur: 1-6) 

“By your life! they were blindly wandering on in their intoxication.” (Hijr: 72)

With such successive swearings in Qur’an, can one say that it is polytheism and (haram) forbidden?

Qur’an is the book of guidance and it is an example to follow and a model to adopt. If such a matter was forbidden for the people it was necessary for it (i.e. Qur’an) to mention that such swearings are the specific to Allah only.

Some of the ungifted men who are unaware of the Qur’anic aims, reply in this manner that it is possible that a thing issued from God's side is good but the same thing issued from someone other than God may not be good.

However the reply is obvious. Because truly, if the reality of swearing upon someone or something other than God is polytheism and same as likening that person to God, then why such an absolute or a minor polytheism has been committed by God? Is it right that God practically considers a partner for Himself but forbids others from considering such a partner to Him!?

Second Proof:

In certain instances, the Holy Prophet (s) has sweared upon someone other than Allah.

(1) Tradition From Sahih Muslim

A person approached the Holy Prophet (s) and said: O Prophet of Allah, which charity bears the greatest reward? The Holy Prophet (s) replied: I swear by your father that very soon, I will inform you about it. The charity which bears the greatest reward is the charity that you give when you are healthy and in need of it and when you fear from poverty and think of your future life. [6]

(2) Another Tradition from Sahih Muslim

"A person from Najd approached the Holy Prophet (s) and questioned him about Islam. The Holy Prophet (s) replied: The foundations of Islam are the following:

(A) The daily five prayers. The Najdi man said: Is there any other salat other than these salat?

The Holy Prophet (s) replied: “Yes they are mustahab” (recommendable).

(B) Fasting in the month of Ramadan. The man said: Is there any other fasting other than these fasting? The Holy Prophet (s) replied: “Yes they are mustahab”.

(C) Zakat. The man said: Is there any other zakat?

The Holy Prophet (s) replied? “Yes they are mustahab. The Najdi man left the Holy Prophet (s) while saying: “I shall neither add nor deduct”.

The Holy Prophet (s) said: “I swear by his father that he will be successful if he speaks the truth; I swear by his father that he will enter paradise if he speaks the truth." [7]

(3) Tradition from al-Musnad of Ahmad ibn Hanbal:

“I Swear by my life that ‘enjoining good and forbidding evil’ is better than silence”. [8]

There are many other similar traditions and it will get very lengthy if we were to narrate all of them. [9]

Amir al-mu'minin Ali bin Abi Talib ('a) who is an esteemed example of Islamic training has repeatedly sweared by his life in his sermons, letters and sayings. [10] Even the first Caliph swears in his conversations by the father of the addressee. [11]

The Four Schools of Thought and the Matter of Swearing upon Other than Allah

Before examining the reasoning of the Wahhabis, it is necessary to know the fatawa (verdicts) of the leaders of the four schools of thought. [12]

The Hanafis believe that swearing such as “I swear by your father and your life” and the like of it are makruh (abominable).

The Shafi'is believe that swearing by someone other than Allah is abominable but not similar seeking partner for Him and not as a trust.

The Malikis say: “Swearing by the great and holy existences like Prophet, Ka'aba and the like of them has two interpretations: makruh and haram and what is famous is to honour.

The Hanbali's believe that swearing by someone other than Allah and His qualities is forbidden even though the swearing may be in the name of Prophet or wali from one of his His awliya.

Let us overlook this fact that all these fatawa (verdicts) are a kind of ijtihad in the face of the clear texts of Qur’an and sunnah of prophet and awliya Allah and due to the closure of the door of  ijtihad for the Ahl al Sunnah, the contemporary scholars have no option but to follow their views.

Let us overlook the fact that al-Qastallani has narrated in (al-Irshad al-Sari, vol. 9 page 358) from Malik ibn Anas about the matter of being abominable.  And let us once more overlook this fact that attributing prohibition of such a swearing according to the Hanbalis is not certain because, Ibn Qudama in al-Mughni’ that was written with the aim of reviving the Hanbali fiqh (jurisprudence) writes: “A group among our companions have said that swearing by the Holy Prophet (s) is a promise which if not fulfilled would invite kaffara (atonement). It has been narrated from Ahmad ibn Hanbal that anyone who swears by the right of Messenger of Allah and then breaks it, has to pay kaffara since the right of the Holy Prophet (s) is one of the pillars of shahada (profession of Islam). Therefore, swearing in his name is (like) swearing by Allah and both invite kaffara. [13]

From these narrations, it is obvious that it can never be said that any of the Imam of the four schools of thought have decisively given any verdict on the prohibition of this matter.

After getting acquainted with the views and opinions of the jurisprudents of the four schools of thought, we shall now discuss two traditions which the Wahhabis have used as a pretext for unjustly shedding innocent blood [14] and accusing millions of Muslims with blasphemy.

First Tradition

The Holy Prophet (s) heard ‘Umar swearing by his father. The Holy Prophet (s) said: God has forbidden you (all) from swearing by your fathers. Anyone who wishes to swear should swear by God or else should keep silent. [15]

Firstly, swearing by their fathers was prohibited because of the fact that they were polytheists and idol-worshippers and such people did not hold any esteem or honour so that one could swear by them. As it has come down in some of the traditions that one should not swear either by the fathers or by the devils (the idols of the Arab) [16]

Secondly, the prohibition to swear by the father is at times of judgement and hostilities. This is because as per the consensus of the Islamic scholars, at times of hostilities, no swearing is allowed except for the swearing by Allah and His attributes which are a reference to His Essence.

By paying attention to what has been said, how can one dare to say that the Holy Prophet (s) has prohibited and restrained us from swearing by the holy personalities like the Prophets and Awliya. His prohibition was only under special circumstances and was not having a general application.

Second Tradition

A person approached the son of ‘Umar and said; “I swear by the Ka’ba”. The son of ‘Umar said: “You should swear by the Lord of the Ka’ba because when ‘Umar swore by his father, the Prophet (s) ordered him not to do so since anyone who swears by someone other than Allah has considered a partner for Allah.” [17]

Reply:

By paying attention to the previous reasoning that recommends swearing to someone other than Allah, this tradition should be described in the following manner.

This tradition consists of three parts:

(1) A person approached Ibn ’Umar and wished to swear by the Ka’ba but the latter prevented him from doing so.

(2) ‘Umar swears by his father in the presence of the Holy Prophet (s) and the latter prevents him from doing so as it was the source of shirk.

(3) The Ijtihad (independent reasoning) of Ibn ’Umar covered the Holy Prophet's saying and included swearing by the holy things such as Ka’ba too in the Prophet's saying.

Under these circumstances, the way of reconciling this tradition and the previous traditions (where the Holy Prophet (s) and others have sworn by someone other than God without any apprehension) is this that the saying of the Prophet, (that anyone who swears by someone other than God has committed shirk) is confined to instances where that person who is sworn by, is a polytheist and not a muslim and holy like the Qur’an, Ka’ba or the Prophet. Thus the ijtihad of Ibn 'Umar who has derived a wider meaning from the saying of the Prophet is an argument only for himself and not for others.

The reason that swearing by the ‘polytheist father’ is one kind of shirk is because such swearing is apparently considered to be an approval of their ways and means.

This was an explanation of the ijtihad of Ibn 'Umar who derived a wider meaning from the tradition which has come down in the case of swearing by the polytheists. Moreover, he has also applied this to holy things too (for example, Ka’ba). So, there's another analysis for this tradition which is much more clear and evident than the analysis of Ibn 'Umar.

Now, we shall discuss his second analysis.

Second Analysis:

The saying of the Holy Prophet (s), that is related to swearing by the devils gods such as Lat and 'Uzza and not swearing by the polytheist father; leaving aside the matter of swearing by the holy things like Ka’ba. It is the  ijtihad of Ibn 'Umar who adopted this rule (which is exclusively related to the idols) to the two cases (swearing by the polytheist and swearing by the Ka’ba) or else, there was no such extension in the Holy Prophet's saying, the proof being that in another tradition, the Prophet (s) says:

"Anyone who swears and swears by Lat and 'Uzza and then immediately says “There is no god except Allah………." (Sunan al-Nasa'i, vol. 7 page 8).

This tradition shows that the sediment of the period of ignorance was still prevailing in the minds of the people who were yet following the ancient habits like the practise of swearing by the idols and it was for the eradication of this ugly practise that the Holy Prophet (s) uttered such a general statement. But Ibn 'Umar has applied this to both-swearing by the holy thing as well as swearing by the polytheist father.

The proof that the saying of the Holy Prophet (s) is neither connected to swearing by the holy thing nor connected to swearing by a polytheist father and the evidence that it is Ibn 'Umar who has combined the Prophet's saying with two cases and even to the swearing of ‘Umar by his father.  The following is the text of another hadith:

Imam Hanbal in his al-Musnad vol. 2 page 34 has narrated the second tradition in such a manner that it shows that such comparison is the work of Ibn 'Umar. Here is the text of the tradition:

‘Umar swore by his father; then the Holy Prophet (s) prohibited him from doing so and said: “The one who swears by someone other than Allah has adopted polytheism.”

Just as you can see, the sentence has come without (parataxis) or and if the second tradition was below the tradition of ‘swearing by the father’, then it was necessary for the second tradition to come with the word of (parataxis).

Again the writer of al-Musnad in vol. 2, page 67 has narrated the tradition of in an independent form without the incident of ‘Umar swearing. It is as such.

The one who swears by someone other than God has said an unfair thing and or the Prophet (s) has said something severe about him for example “has adopted polytheism”.

Footnotes:

[1] Kashf al-'irtiyab, page 336 narrated from the book Tathir al-'i'tiqad, page 14.

[2] Above reference, narrated from the book al-Hadiyyat al-saniyya, page 25.

[3] Sura al-Shams verse: 1 to 7.

[4] Sura al-Nazi'at verse: 1 to 3.

[5] Sura al-Mursalat verse: 1 to 3.

[6] Sahih Muslim, Book of zakat part 3; chapter of ‘Best charity’ page 94.

[7] Sahih Muslim, part 1 chapter of ‘What is Islam and its qualities’ page 32.

[8] Musnad Ahmad ibn Hanbal, vol. 5 page 225.

[9] Refer to Musnad Ahmad, vol.5 page 212; and Sunan Ibn Maja vol. 4 page 995 and vol.1 page 255.

[10] Nahj al-Balagha, sermons 23, 25, 56, 85, 161, 168, 182, 187 and letters no. 6, 9 and 54.

[11] Malik bin Anas, al-Muwatta', (along with commentary of al-Zurqani), vol. 4 page 159.

[12] al-Fiqh 'ala al-madhahib al-'arba'a, book of al-Yamin, vol. 1 page 75 (Egyptian print).

[13] Al-Mughni, vol. 9 page 517.

[14] The Wahhabis once attacked Karbala in the year 1216 AH and again in the year 1259 AH and, in these attacks, they did not spare the young and the old. Within three days, they killed 6000 people and, like the army of Yazid, they plundered the precious things inside the shrine. Why? Just because they were seeking tawassul by the progeny of the Holy Prophet (s) and were expressing their love towards them.

[15] Sunan Ibn Maja, vol. 1 page 277; Sunan al-Tirmidhi, vol. 4 page 109; Sunan al-Nasa'i, vol. 7 page 485; Sunan al-kubra, vol. 10 page 29.

[16] Sunan al-kubra, vol.1 page 29 narrated from Sahih Muslim, Sunan al-Nasa'i vol.7 page 7 and Sunan Ibn Maja, vol. 1 page 278.

In another tradition it has come as: (Sunan al-Nasa'i vol.7 page 6).

[17] Sunan al-kubra, vol. 10 page 29. Musnad Ahmad, vol.1 page 47 and vol. 2 page 34, 67, 78 and 125; Sunan al-Bayhaqi,  vol. 10 page 29.