Seadet-i Ebediyye - Endless Bliss Fifth Fascicle

or ‘Upon my honour it is the truth.’ It is harâm to swear on one’s
life or head. It is an oath to say, ‘I swear by Allah that....” It is an
oath to say, ‘I promise by Allah.’ Also, it is an oath to use the
words “qasem”, “half”, or “yemîn” in one’s promise, whether by
using the simple present tense or present continuous tense in the
promise, or to say, ‘Esh-hadu,’ and not to say Allah’s name after it.
If one says, “Be it my oath” or “Be it my vow” or “Be it my
promise,” it becomes an oath.
It is an oath to utter something that causes disbelief, such as to
say, ‘You are a disbeliever, or a Jew, or a Christian, or atheist if
you do this,’ or to say the same in the future tense: ‘You will be....’,
or to say, ‘May you be (a disbeliever, etc)’ The oath becomes
breached when the second person does that thing. If the first
person said it with the intention of an oath he has to pay kaffârat.
If he said it because he wanted the latter to be a disbeliever, he
(the sworn person) becomes a disbeliever. For, a person who gives
consent to disbelief becomes a disbeliver. He who calls a Muslim a
disbeliever becomes a disbeliever himself, even if he did not mean
it. He who gives a positive answer to a person who calls him a
disbeliever, such as to say, ‘Yes, sir,’ becomes a disbeliever. He
should either not answer it at all or refuse it.
If a person says, ‘If I enter this room, may it be halâl to take
interest, (or may everything be harâm for me to eat),’ it becomes
an oath of the second kind. For, interest is harâm in every religion.
It is disbelief to say, ‘May it be halâl.’ And also it is disbelief to say,
‘May everything be harâm,’ because it means: ‘May it be harâm to
eat and drink such things as bread and water, which are halâl to eat
and drink in every religion.’ If a person utters words that cause
disbelief with the intention of swearing an oath, he will not become
a disbeliever, but he will have sworn.
It is not an oath to say, ‘If you do this, may Allah’s wrath (or
curse) be upon you, (may you be an adulterer, a thief, a wine
drinker, an interest charger or usurer).’ For, it is not customary
among Muslims to swear by using these words. It is not an oath to
say, ‘May it be a right upon me.’ But it is an oath to say, ‘For the
sake of Allah.’ It means for the right of Allah. It is an oath to say,
‘I take an oath by Allah.’ It is written in Ibni ’Âbidîn that if a
person stands up to show reverence to another person passing by
him though the latter, upon seeing his attempt to stand up,
deprecates, ‘Don’t, for Allah’s sake,’ these adjurations do not
incur any liability on the latter. However, the former should
respect Allah’s name and should not do the thing which he is
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