Quran Garden

Session 243

Chapter 2

Verse 225

God will not call you to account for what is vain in your oaths, but He will call you to account for what you mean in your hearts. God is most forgiving and forbearing.

(Chapter 2: Verse 225)

In the previous sessions, we explained how oaths should not be used as a tool to justify evil or as an excuse to avoid doing good; we also touched on the issue of vain oaths used in common everyday expressions.  The verse understudy follows directly to clarify which oaths you are held accountable for.  Allah is telling you to nullify and expiate your oath if you see a better path towards good; God will accept that from you in exchange for better deeds and proper expiation.  He says:

God does not call you to account for your inadvertent oaths; but He will take you to task for oaths you make intentionally.  The expiation in that case is to feed ten poor people with the average amount you feed your family, or clothe them, or free a slave. Anyone without the means to do so should fast three days. That is the expiation for breaking oaths when you have sworn them. Keep your oaths. In this way Allah makes His Signs clear to you, so that hopefully you will be thankful. (5:89)

There is one kind of oath, however, that there is cannot be expiated for.  It is called the immersive oath, or in Arabic ‘Yameen Ghamoos.’  The reason behind the name ‘immersive oath’ is that such oath will result in immersion in hellfire.  It is an oath that you consciously and deliberately make as a lie to conceal the truth.  The best example of such an oath is one taken in court in order to tell a lie.  For example, a false witness comes forward, swears to tell the truth and then knowingly, he or she gives false testimony.  There is no expiation for an oath purposely used to cause harm and injustice; the only remedy for it is immersion in hellfire.  Prophet Muhammad –peace be upon him- asked his companions "would you like to know about the worst of major sins?” they replied, “tell us, messenger of God.”  He said: “there are three: associating partners with God; defying one’s parents;” then he peace be upon him sat up straight and said “and giving false testimony; giving false testimony.” He kept repeating it over and over until we wished he would stop.  God says:

God will not call you to account for what is vain in your oaths, but He will call you to account for what you mean in your hearts.

The Arabic word for ‘oaths’ is يمين ‘yameen.’  ‘Yameen’ which literally means the right hand is the word used for oaths because in the olden days when a person made an oath to a friend, he or she would place the right hand over the friend’s right hand.  Many of us do the same by shaking the other person’s right hand after we make a deal or a promise.  The right hand, after all, is the hand that performs most actions in life.   

Keep in mind that the right hand possesses no power of its own; rather it is the dominant hand for most people because God created it so.  Thus, when you find a person preferring to use his or her left hand as the dominant one, do not try to make him or her use the right hand instead.  A person created to use his or her left hand cannot help but to do so.  Our brains control our movements.  As it is well-known, the brain is divided into two similar hemispheres, and each hemisphere controls the movement of one half of the body.  God creates these connections. 

Often, you will find that lefties have excellent artistic abilities and beautiful handwriting; something they can hardly do with the right hand.  So do not ask a left-handed child to change and write with his right.  There are a few people who are blessed with a brain that equally controls both hands to perform tasks well.  God has absolute power, and He is capable of making the right hand operate, the left hand operate, making them work together, or making them both disabled.  Everything is subject to His will.

Let’s get back to the verse under study.  Another word for oath in the Arabic language is ‘Hilfan’ from the root ‘hilf.’  ‘Hilf’ means an alliance or a pact.  When you take an oath, you are in essence making a commitment to work with another person or group.  You divide the work between the parties and assure the other person or group that you will live up to your word.  So make sure to respect your word, and keep your oaths.  You will be responsible for your word before people and before your Lord.  God says:

God will not call you to account for what is vain in your oaths, but He will call you to account for what you mean in your hearts. God is most forgiving and forbearing.

(Chapter 2: Verse 225)