Question:
Assalaamualaiykom. Someone said “Allah Ki Qasam i will pray all my Salah in the Masjid with congregation if i dont then for every Salah i miss i will pay £0.25p Sadaqah. My question, does this become binding upon him? Does he have to pay everytime he misses Salah in congregation? Also the questioner is not sure if he said £0.25p or £1 for each Salah. Which one does he choose if he has to pay? Jazak Allah Khair

Answer: First of all oaths are made to be fulfilled.

Allah says in the Quran
وليوفوا نذورهم
” and they should fulfil their vows (pledges)”

one Hadith says: “Whosoever vows to obey Allah, should obey Him, and whosoever vows to disobey Allah, should not disobey Him”

On the day of qiyamat, Allah will question a person about his ghadaraat, breaking of promises made to Allah.

Now, If a person takes such an oath then it does become binding upon him and he must fulfil it.

Since the oath was that he would pay £0.25 for every salah missed with congregation, he will have to give this amount every time.

If he is unsure as to whether he swore to pay £0.25 or £1.00, it is only incumbent upon him to pay £ 0.25. However, if he chooses to pay £1.00 for every salah missed salah, he may do so.

It is stated in al-Ashbah wa al-Naza’ir p. 82:

قيل له: كم يمين عليك؟ قال: اعلم أن على ايماناً غير أني لا أعرف عددها. ماذا يصنىع؟ قال: يحمل على الأقل حكماً، وأما الإحتياط فلا نهاية له