The Book of Oaths

Abu Haraira reported Allah's Messenger (may peace be upon him) as saying: Your oath should be about something regarding which your companion will believe you. 'Amr said: By which your companion will believe you.

Abu Huraira reported Allah's Messenger (may peace be upon him) as saying: An oath is to be interpreted according to the intention of the one who takes it.

Abu Huraira reported that (Hadrat) Sulaiman had sixty wives. He (one day) said: I will visit each one of them every night, and every one of them will become pregnant and give birth to a male child who will be a horseman and fight in the cause of Allah. But (it so happened) that none of them became pregnant except one, but she gave birth to an incomplete child. Thereupon Allah's Messenger (may peace be upon him) said: Had he said Insha' Allah (if God so wills), then every one of them would have given birth to a child who would have been a horseman and fought in the cause of Allah

Abu Huraira reported Allah's Prophet (may peace be upon him) as saying that Sulaiman b. Dawud, the Apostle of Allah, observed: I will have an intercourse with seventy wives during the night; all of them will give birth to a male child who will fight in the cause of Allah. His companion or the ang I said to him: Say," If God wills." But he (Hadrat Sulaimin) did not say so, and he forgot it. And none of his wives gave birth to a child, but one who gave birth to a premature child. Allah's Messenger (may peace be upon him) said: Had he said Insha' Allah (if God so will). he would not have failed and his desire would have been materialised.

Abu Huraira reported this hadith from the Apostle of Allah (may peace be upon him) through another chain of transmitters.

Abu Huraira reported that Sulaiman b. Dawud said: I will certainly have intercourse with seventy wives during the night, and every wife amongst them will give birth to a child, who will fight in the cause of Allah. It was said to him: Say:" Insha' Allah" (God willing), but he did not say so and forgot it. He went round them but none of them give birth to a child except one woman and that too was an incomplete person. Upon this Allah's Messenger (may peace be upon him) said: If he had said" Insha' Allah." he would not have failed, and his desire must have been fulfilled.

Abu Huraira reported Allah's Apostle (may peace be upon him) as saying that Sulaiman b. Dawud (once) said: I will go round in the night to my ninety wives, and every one of them will give birth to a child (who will grow up) as a horseman and fight in the cause of Allah His companions said to him: Say" Insha' Allah." but he did not say Inshii' Allah. He went round all of them but none of them became pregnant but one, and she gave birth to a premature child. And by Him in Whose hand is the life of Muhammad, if he had said, Insha' Allah (his wives would have given birth to the children who would all have grown up into horsemen and fought in the way of Allah). This hadith has been narrated on the authority of Abu Zinad with the same chain of transmitters with a variation of (these words):" Every one of them giving birth to a child, who would have fought in the cause of Allah."

Hammam b. Munabbih reported: This is what Abu Huraira reported to us from Allah's Messenger (may peace be upon him), and he narrated a hadith and (one) of them is that Allah's Messenger (may peace be upon him) said: I swear by Allah, it is more sinful in Allah's sight for one of you to persist in an oath regarding his family than payment of its expiation which Allah has imposed upon him (for breaking the oath).

Ibn 'Umar reported that Umar (b. Khattab) said: Messenger of Allah, I had taken a vow during the days of Ignorance (Jahiliyya) that I would observe I'tikaf for a night in the Sacred Mosque. He (the Holy Prophet) said: Fulfil your vow.

This hadith is transmitted on the authority of Ibn Umar with a slight variation of words.

'Abdullah b. 'Umar reported that 'Umar b. Khattab asked the Messenger of Allah (may peace be upon him) as he was at ji'rana (a town near Mecca) on his way back from Ta'if: Messenger of Allah, I had taken a vow during the days of Ignorance that I would observe I'tikaf for one day in the Sacred Mosque. So what is your opinion? He said: Go and observe I'tikaf for a day. And Allah's Messenger (may peace be upon him) gave him a slave girl out of the one-fifth (of the spoils of war meant for the Holy Prophet). And when Allah's Messenger (inay peace be upon him) set the war prisoners free. 'Umar b. Khattab heard their voice as they were saying: Allah's Messenger (may peace be upon him) has set as free. He (Hadrat 'Umar) said: What is this? They said: Allah's Messenger (may peace be upon him) has set free the prisoners of war (which had fallen to the lot of people). Thereupon he (Hadrat 'Umar) said: Abdullah, go to that slave-girl and set her free.

lbn 'Umar reported: When Allah's Apostle (may peace be upon him) came back from the Battle of Hunain, Umar asked Allah's Messenger (may peace be upon him) about the vow he had taken during the days of Ignorance that he would observe I'tikaf for a day. The rest of the hadith is the same.

Nafi' reported: A mention of Allah's Messenger (may peace be upon him) observing 'Umra from ja'rina was made before Ibn 'Umar. He said: He did not enter into the state of Ihram from that (place), and Umar had taken a vow of observing I'tikaf for a night during the days of Ignorance. The rest of the hadith is the same.

This hadith has been transmitted on the authority of Ibn Umar through another chain of transmitters but with a slight variation of words.

Zadhan Abl Umar reported: I came to Ibn 'Umar as he had granted freedom to a stave. He (the narrator further) said: He took hold of a wood or something like it from the earth and said: It (freedom of a slave) has not the reward evert equal to it, but the fact that I heard Allah's Messenger (way peace be upon him) say: He who slaps his slave or beats him, the expiation for it is that he should set him free.

Zadhan reported that Ibn Umar called his slave and he found the marks (of beating) upon his back. He said to him: I have caused you pain. He said: No. But he (Ibn Umar) said: You are free. He then took hold of something from the earth and said: There is no reward for me even to the weight equal to it. I heard Allah's Messenger (may peace be upon him) as saying: He who beats a slave without cognizable offence of his or slaps him (without any serious fault), then expiation for it is that he should set him free.

This hadith has been narrated through another chain of transmitters with a slight variation of words.

Mu'awiya b. Suwaid reported: I slapped a slave belonging to us and then fled away. I came back just before noon and offered prayer behind my father. He called him (the slave) and me and said: Do as he has done to you. He granted pardon. He (my father) then said: We belonged to the family of Muqarrin during the lifetime of Allah's Messenger (may peace be upon him. and had only one slave-girl and one of us slapped her. This news reached Allah's Apostle (may peace be upon him) and he said: Set her free. They (the members of the family) said: There is no other servant except she. Thereupon he said: Then employ her and when you can afford to dispense with her services, then set her free.

Hilal b. Yasaf reported that a person got angry and slapped his slave-girl. Thereupon Suwaid b. Muqarrin said to him: You could find no other part (to slap) but the prominent part of her face. See I was one of the seven sons of Muqarrin, and we had but only one slave-girl. The youngest of us slapped her, and Allah's Messenger (may peace be upon him) commanded us to set her free. 2097

Hilal b. Yasaf reported: We used to sell cloth in the house of Suwaid b. Muqarrin, the brother of Nu'man b. Muqarrin. There came out a slave-girl, and she said something to a person amongst us, and he slapped her. Suwaid was enraged-the rest of the hadlth is the same.

Suwaid b. Muqarrin reported that he had a slave-girl and a person (one of the members of the family) slapped her, whereupon Suwaid said to him: Don't you know that it is forbidden (to strike the) face. He said: You see I was the seventh one amongst my brothers during the lifetime of Allah's Messenger (may peace be upon him), and we had but only one servant. One of us got enraged and slapped him. Thereupon Allah's Messenger (may peace be upon him) commanded us to set him free.

Wahb b. Jarir reported: Shu'ba informed that Muhammad b. Munkadir said to me: What is your name? The rest of the hadith is the same.

Abu Mas'ud al-Badri reported: I was beating my slave with a whip when I heard a voice behind me: Understand, Abu Masud; but I did not recognise the voice due to intense anger. He (Abu Mas'ud) reported: As he came near me (I found) that he was the Messenger of Allah (may peace be upon him) and he was saying: Bear in mind, Abu Mas'ud; bear in mind. Abu Mas'ud. He (Aba Maslad) said: threw the whip from my hand. Thereupon he (the Holy Prophet) said: Bear in mind, Abu Mas'ud; verily Allah has more dominance upon you than you have upon your slave. I (then) said: I would never beat my servant in future.

This hadith has been narrated on the authorityo A'mash but with this variation of words: " There fell from my hand the whip on account of his (the Prophet's) awe."

Abu Mas'ud al-Ansari reported: When I was beating my servant, I heard a voice behind me (saying): Abu Mas'ud, bear in mind Allah has more dominance over you than you have upon him. I turned and (found him) to be Allah's Messenger (may peace be upon him). I said: Allah's Messenger, I set him free for the sake of Allah. Thereupon he said: Had you not done that, (the gates of) Hell would have opened for you, or the fire would have burnt you.

Abu Mas'ud reported that he had been beating his slave and he had been saying: I seek refuge with Allah, but he continued beating him, whereupon he said: I seek refuge with Allah's Messenger, and he spared him. Thereupon Allah's Messenger (may peace be upon him) said: By Allah, God has more dominance over you than you have over him (the slave). He said that he set him free. This hadith has been narrated on the authority of Shu'ba with the same chain of transmitters, but made no mention of (these words) of his: I seek refuge with Allah, I seek refuge with Allah's Messenger (may peace be upon him).

Abu Huraira reported that Abu'l-Qasim (one of the names of Allah's Messenger [may peace be upon him]) said: He who accused his slave of adultery, punishment would be imposed upon him on the Day of Resurrection, except in case the accusation was as he had said.

This hadith has been narrated on the authority of Ibn Ghazwan (and the words are): " I heard Abu'l-Qasim (may peace be upon him) as the Prophet of repentance."