Islamic Fiqh > Oaths and vows > Vows (nudhur)
The vow (nudhur): definition, status (only of obedience), the vow of disobedience is not fulfilled, and types of vows.
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Updated on 31 August 2026 at 3:55 AM
The vow (nadr) is a voluntary commitment to Allah to perform an act of obedience. It requires a formula: the majority of the schools (Malikis in the well-known position, Shafi'is, Hanbalis) form it only by a spoken word; Hanafis cite formulas such as "it is a duty upon me towards Allah", "this is an offering or a charity". Malikis: any binding word suffices, even without the word vow. an-Nawawi: the most complete formula is "if Allah heals my sick, I owe such and such to Allah". Free will is required among Malikis, Shafi'is and Hanbalis; Hanafis accept the vow even under coercion. Islam: Malikis, the vow of a disbeliever does not bind after Islam but is recommended; Hanafis and Shafi'is (in the position), Islam is required; Hanbalis and Shafi'is (one view), it is valid and binds after conversion, like Umar to whom the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said after his Islam:
"Fulfill your vow."al-Bukhari 1937 ; Muslim 1656
Three forms. The vow of exchange: "if Allah heals me, gives me a child or delivers me, I owe a month of fasting, prayer, freeing a slave or pilgrimage": as soon as the condition occurs, fulfillment binds by consensus of the scholars; the Quran blames those who do not honor such a commitment (sura at-Tawba 75-77). The commitment of obedience without condition: it binds too. Obedience with no obligatory origin, like i'tikaf or visiting the sick: the vow is valid for the majority, by the hadith:
"Whoever vows to obey Allah, let him obey Him."al-Bukhari 6700
It is not fulfilled:
"Whoever vows to disobey Allah, let him not disobey Him."Abu Dawud 3290 ; Tirmidhi 1524 ; Ibn Majah 2121
A man had vowed to stand in the sun without speaking, sheltering or sitting, while fasting; the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) ordered: "Command him to speak, to shelter, to sit and to complete his fast" (al-Bukhari 6326): the disobedience is abandoned and the obedience completed. Fasting the day of the two Eids is forbidden by consensus, voluntarily or by vow: such a vow is a vow of disobedience; making it up divides the scholars. On the expiation: Hanafis and Hanbalis make it due when he does not perform it; the other schools have nuances.
Permissible act (eating, walking, licit divorce): Hanbalis, a choice between performing it or expiating; Hanafis and Shafi'is (one view), the vow is valid only for a worship whose kind includes an obligation (fasting, prayer, pilgrimage, freeing a slave, charity). Disliked act (praying after asr, eating garlic, divorcing): Hanafis, Malikis and Shafi'is (in the well-known position), the vow does not form: "No vow except in that by which the face of Allah is sought" (Abu Dawud 2192), supported by the story of Abu Isra'il (al-Bukhari 6326); Hanbalis (one narration) and Shafi'is (one view), it forms but it is better to expiate and leave the act; if he performs it anyway, no expiation since he fulfilled his vow. Personally obligatory act (prescribed prayer, Ramadan fast, obligatory pilgrimage): the vow does not form, for what is already obligatory cannot be imposed twice, and no expiation for the majority.
The vague vow ("I have a vow" without precision): valid and binding, the agreement of Ibn Rushd. The vow of obstinacy or anger ("if I speak to such a one, I owe a month of fasting"): the choice between performing it or expiating according to Shafi'is (one view), Hanbalis, Abu Hanifa (one narration), Muhammad and Ibn al-Qasim among Malikis. The vow beyond one's capacity: Hanafis, it binds estimatively (the old man unable to fast owes the food compensation); the impossible vow (fasting yesterday, a woman fasting her menstruation days) does not form and imposes nothing; Hanbalis possibly see the expiation there as for the swallowing oath. Ibn Abbas reported from the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him): "Whoever makes a vow without specifying it, its expiation is that of the oath; whoever makes a vow of disobedience, its expiation is that of the oath; whoever makes a vow he cannot bear, its expiation is that of the oath" (Abu Dawud 3322, weak in its raised form); and Uqba ibn Amir: "The expiation of the unspecified vow is the expiation of the oath" (Muslim 1645).
In principle the vow is not eaten by the one who made it. Hanafis: the promised sheep becomes charity, the vower does not eat from it, otherwise he refunds the value of what he ate. Malikis: forbidden if the vow is designated to the poor by word or intention; permitted before its delivery if no one is designated. Shafi'is: if he designated it from what he already owes, he cannot eat from it.
The vow is a serious commitment: better not to impose what one risks not to keep. The general rules: fulfill the vow of obedience, abandon any vow of disobedience while paying the expiation of the oath, and vow only what draws near to Allah and remains within reach.