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What is the ruling on vows (nadhr)? And can we donate its value to Palestine?

1 min readAlso available in العربية

Scholars differed on the ruling regarding vows, with the preponderant opinion being that they are disliked, due to the Prophet’s (peace and blessings be upon him) prohibition of them and his statement: "Indeed, it does not avert anything, but rather it is used to extract [something] from the miser."

However, if a Muslim makes a vow, he is obligated to fulfill it, unless it is a vow of disobedience, in which case it is not permissible to fulfill it, due to the Prophet's (peace and blessings be upon him) saying: "Whoever vows to obey Allah, let him obey Him; and whoever vows to disobey Him, let him not disobey Him."

And whoever vows to give a charity and does not specify a destination, it is permissible for him to disburse it to any location, and the people of Palestine are now more deserving. As for whoever specified the destination, it is not permissible to disburse the vow elsewhere unless it is impossible to deliver it or the specified destination becomes self-sufficient.

Summarized from the full answer at Ftawy · reviewed Sep 2, 2026

Read the full answer on Ftawy