Is the words of repentance a vow or a promise?

As-salāmu ‘alaykum wa-rahmatullāhi wa-barakātuh.  

In the Name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful.

Respected Brother in Islām,

You enquire regarding the statement: "O Allah, I will not commit any sin."

Is it a vow or a simple promise?

A vow is defined in the Oxford Dictionary as: 

A formal and solemn promise to do something, or a formal statement that is true.[1]

According to Sharī‘ah, there are two categories of a solemn promise:

1)     Nadhr. 

A nadhr is to bind oneself to an act of worship which is not compulsory, for example, one binds himself to keep three days of Nafl fast, or to give a certain amount of money in charity.  

There are three conditions for the validity of a nadhr:[2]

a)     The act of worship must be within those acts that are compulsory at some time or the other, for example, a person made nadhr to perform Nafl Ṣalāh. Ṣalāh in itself is an act which is compulsory five times a day.

b)    The act of worship must be a direct form of Ibadah, like Ṣalāh, and not a means (Sabab) for another Ibadah, for example Wudhū, which is a means for performing Ṣalāh. 

c)     The act of Ibadah must not be compulsory upon the individual, for example, a person undertakes to perform Ẓuhr Ṣalāh or to fast in Ramaḍān. This will not be correct as Ẓuhr Ṣalāh is Fardh, likewise fasting in Ramaḍān is Fardh.

If a person makes an act of worship binding upon himself with the above conditions, it will be necessary for him to fulfil that act of worship. 

A nadhr can be conditional, in which case it will be necessary to fulfil it only if the condition is fulfilled.[3] For example, if a person said: “If I recover from this sickness, I will keep three days of Nafl fast.” In this instance, it will be binding upon him to keep those fasts if he recovered. 

2)    Yamīn.

A yamīn is an undertaking in the name of Allāh Ta‘ālā or one of His attributes[4] [5] to do or not do a certain act, [6] [7] for example, “By Allāh” “I will do/not do so-and-so act”. Kaffārah (expiation) will be necessary for breaking a yamīn.

The statement in reference, "O Allah, I will not commit any sin."  is neither a Nadhr nor Yamīn. It is a simple promise which does not have implications of Nadhr and Yamīn.[8] [9]  However, Sharī‘ah has emphasised on fulfilling promises. 

Allāh Ta‘āla says:

وَأَوفُوا بِٱلعَهدِۖ إِنَّ ٱلعَهدَ كَانَ مَسئـُولا [10]

Translation: And fulfil the pledge. Certainly, questioning shall take place (on the day of Qiyāmah) with regard to pledges. (Al-Isrā- 34)

If a person breaks his promise, he should make Tawbah and Istighfār.

It is stated in the following ḥadīth of Nabī Ṣallallāhu ‘Alaihi Wasallam:

عَنْ أَنَسٍ، أَنَّ النَّبِيَّ صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ قَالَ: «كُلُّ ابْنِ آدَمَ خَطَّاءٌ وَخَيْرُ الخَطَّائِينَ التَّوَّابُونَ»[11]

Translation: Every child of Ādam Alaihi Salaam is a sinner, and the best of sinners are those that repent. 

Humans are prone to making mistakes. However, one should never give up, rather be remorseful after committing a mistake. Engage in Istighfār and make a firm intention to avoid that mistake in the future.[12] It is stated in a ḥadīth of Nabī Ṣallallāhu ‘Alaihi Wasallam:

عَنْ أَبِي بَكْرٍ الصِّدِّيقِ، رَضِيَ اللَّهُ عَنْهُ، قَالَ: قَالَ رَسُولُ اللَّهِ صَلَّى اللهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ: «مَا أَصَرَّ مَنِ اسْتَغْفَرَ، وَإِنْ عَادَ فِي الْيَوْمِ سَبْعِينَ مَرَّةٍ»[13] 

Translation: He who seeks forgiveness has not been persistent in sin, even if he might repeat the action 70 times. 

And Allah Ta’ala Knows Best

Abdur Rahmaan bin Moulānā M.Saeed Banubhai

Student Darul Iftaa
Rustenburg, NW, South Africa

Checked and Approved by, 
Mufti Ebrahim Desai.

(2021-06-24)