Seadet-i Ebediyye - Endless Bliss Fifth Fascicle

uilding schools, building mosques are within the area of worship.
But none of them is an act of worship by itself. They cannot be
vowed. The fard or wâjib which the vowed thing has to be like does
not have to be an act of worship by itself. For example, it is
permissible to vow donating something to a pious foundation. For,
donating something to a pious foundation is like building a
mosque for Muslims. Building a mosque is not an act of worship by
itself, but donating to a pious foundation is an act of worship by
itself. For example, making an ablution is not an act of worship by
itself, but it is a condition (to be fulfilled for the acceptability) of
namâz, which is an act of worship by itself. Likewise, shrouding a
dead Muslim is a condition for the acceptability of the namâz of
janâza. The satr-i-awrat of the dead is a condition of the namâz of
janâza.
One has to fulfil the absolute nazr immediately, even if one is
poor. If the state of death is felt before one has fulfilled it, one has
to add fulfilment of kaffârat to one’s will. It is permissible as well
to delay it without a good excuse. When fulfilling the nazr, one
does not have to fulfil also the things which one has designated to
do. For example, if one has vowed to give a certain amount of
money to a particular poor person at a certain place and time, or
to perform namâz at a certain place, one does not have to observe
these particulars. Yet one cannot change the vowed amount.
However, if one vowes to give gold coins to a certain poor person
for the sake of Allâhu ta’âlâ, one will have to give them to that
particular poor person. For, one’s not determining the (number of)
gold coins or the (amount of) property one is going to give shows
that one wants to designate the poor person singled out.
2 - Conditional vow. When the condition one has desired
occurs one has to fulfil the nazr. [It is written in Fatâwâ-i-
Khayriyya that it is permissible to pay the kaffârat prescribed for
an oath instead of fulfilling the nazr. It is written at the end of the
chapter about fasting in Tahtawî’s ‘rahmatullâhi ta’âlâ ’alaih’
annotation to the commentary entitled Imdâd-ul-Fettâh: “It is
deduced from an âyat-i-kerîma and from a hadîth-i-sherîf that nazr
is permissible. If one has made the nazr depend upon the
occurrence of a condition one desires, one will have to fulfil the
nazr when the condition one has stipulated occurs. If one has
stipulated a condition one does not desire to occur, when the
condition one does not desire occurs one fulfils the nazr if one
likes, if the nazr is hajj, fasting, alms, or supererogatory namâz. If
one does not want to fulfil the nazr of this kind, one may pay the
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