Is There a Way Out of a Conditional Vow before the Condition Is Met?

Answered by Shaykh Yusuf Weltch

Question

I made a conditional vow with Allah that if I am healed, I shall do this and this. I am not healed yet, but I want to come out of my promise that I will do a particular thing. Since I may not be able to complete it and fall into hypocrisy

Answer

In the Name of Allah, the Most Merciful and Compassionate

Conditional Vows

Once a conditional vow is made, it becomes obligatory to fulfill once the condition is met. [Ibn ‘Abidin, Radd al-Muhtar]

Vow of Something Undesirable

The only exception is if the condition is something undesirable. For example, if someone said, “If I repeat this sin again, I will fast for Allah for one month.” In this example, since the condition is undesirable, the person will be given a choice between the vow remaining or doing the expiation of a broken oath. [Ibn ‘Abidin, Radd al-Muhtar]

This is due to the fact that the vow made, although outwardly a vow, contains within it the meaning of an oath. [Ibn ‘Abidin, Radd al-Muhtar]

Vow of Something Desirable

However, if the condition is desirable, like in your case, it is obligatory to fulfill the vow once the condition is met. [Ibn ‘Abidin, Radd al-Muhtar]

Hope this helps
Allah knows best

[Shaykh] Yusuf Weltch
Checked and Approved by Shaykh Faraz Rabbani

Shaykh Yusuf Weltch is a teacher of Arabic, Islamic law, and spirituality. After accepting Islam in 2008, he then completed four years at the Darul Uloom seminary in New York where he studied Arabic and the traditional sciences. He then traveled to Tarim, Yemen, where he stayed for three years studying in Dar Al-Mustafa under some of the greatest scholars of our time, including Habib Umar Bin Hafiz, Habib Kadhim al-Saqqaf, and Shaykh Umar al-Khatib. In Tarim, Shaykh Yusuf completed the memorization of the Qur’an and studied beliefs, legal methodology, hadith methodology, Qur’anic exegesis, Islamic history, and a number of texts on spirituality. He joined the SeekersGuidance faculty in the summer of 2019.