One of the signs of fulfilling one’s obligations to Allah is to fulfill the covenant that they should worship Him alone, Glory be His.
The obligations a Muslim has are many and of varying degrees when significance is concerned. Foremost among these obligations is the one between the servant (i.e. man) and the Lord of the whole universe, Allah the Almighty. Allah the Almighty is the Creator of the whole universe who created man with His Power, raised him with His Grace, and asked him to realize and recognize these facts and not to be misled by any of the many temptations around him. Among these obligations are what follows:
To worship Allah alone
One of the signs of fulfilling one’s obligations to Allah is to fulfill the covenant that they should worship Him alone, Glory be His. Allah says in the Ever-Glorious Qur’an what may mean,
“Did I not enjoin upon you, O children of Adam, that you not worship Satan – [for] indeed, he is to you a clear enemy.” (Ya-Sin 36: 60-61)
And, in case there are some people who did not listen to or obey the Prophets and Messengers of Allah and who did not accept the guidance they brought with them, there is a great sign from Allah the Almighty that may drive them towards their Creator and Lord no matter what the attractions and distractions from the Right Path might be. This is the covenant which Allah has made with all men with no exception. This is shown in the following ayahs from the Qur’an that reads what may mean,
“And [mention] when your Lord took from the children of Adam – from their loins – their descendants and made them testify of themselves, [saying to them], ‘Am I not your Lord?’ They said, ‘Yes, we have testified.’ [This] – lest you should say on the Day of Resurrection, ‘Indeed, we were of this unaware.’ Or [lest] you say, ‘It was only that our fathers associated [others in worship] with Allah before, and we were but descendants after them. Then would You destroy us for what the falsifiers have done?’ And thus do We [explain in] detail the verses, and perhaps they will return.” (Al-A’raf 7: 172-174)
In a similar vein, Allah the Almighty took the covenant of the Prophets and Messengers to believe in the mission of Prophet Muhammad (Peace and blessings be upon him) and to support him in His saying that may mean,
“And [recall, O People of the Scripture], when Allah took the covenant of the prophets, [saying], ‘Whatever I give you of the Scripture and wisdom and then there comes to you a messenger confirming what is with you, you [must] believe in him and support him.’ [Allah] said, ‘Have you acknowledged and taken upon that My commitment?’ They said, ‘We have acknowledged it.’ He said, ‘Then bear witness, and I am with you among the witnesses.’” (Aal `Imran 3: 81)
Allah the Almighty gave a general order to all Muslims to fulfill their covenants especially their covenant with Allah the Almighty. He says what may mean,
“And fulfill the covenant of Allah when you have taken it, [O believers], and do not break oaths after their confirmation while you have made Allah, over you, a witness. Indeed, Allah knows what you do.” (Al-Nahl 16: 91)
Those who fulfill their covenants with Allah the Almighty are those who deserve to be called real “men” as is shown in His saying that may mean,
“Among the believers are men true to what they promised Allah. Among them is he who has fulfilled his vow [to the death], and among them is he who awaits [his chance]. And they did not alter [the terms of their commitment] by any alteration.” (Al-Ahzab 33: 23)
To keep one’s oaths
If a Muslim swears, he should swear by Allah alone and nothing other than Him. If he makes an oath, he should fulfill it and not to break his vow no matter what. These are from among the noblest morals and ethics of Islam which is a way of life that encompasses everything in the life of a human being from birth to death. The Prophet (Peace and blessings be upon him) is reported to have said what may mean, “Whoever swears by anything other than Allah has associated something with Him (shirk).” (Narrated by Imam Ahmed)
To fulfill one’s vows
In Islamic shari’ah, a vow is an obligation made by someone on himself other than the ordinances and obligations of shari’ah. This means that it is a voluntary act of worship to be carried out by a person on his own will and desire at a given time. A vow must be fulfilled by the one who made it; this is understood from the following ayah that reads what may mean,
“And whatever you spend of expenditures or make of vows – indeed, Allah knows of it. And for the wrongdoers there are no helpers.” (Al-Baqarah 2: 270)
And, fulfilling the vow is one of the attributes of the faithful as can be understood from Allah’s saying that may mean,
“They [are those who] fulfill [their] vows and fear a Day whose evil will be widespread.” (Al-Insan 76: 7)
There are some guidelines and regulations for making a valid vow which are reflected in the Prophetic hadith that reads what may mean,
It was narrated from ‘Aishah (May Allah be pleased with her) that the Messenger of Allah (Peace and blessings be upon him) said: “Whoever vows to obey Allah, let him obey Him, and whoever vows to disobey Allah, let him not disobey Him.” (Sunan an-Nasa’i, No. 3806)
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Dr. Ali Al-Halawani is Assistant Professor of Linguistics and Translation, Kulliyyah of Languages and Management (KLM), International Islamic University Malaysia (IIUM), Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. He was Assistant Professor and worked for a number of international universities in Malaysia and Egypt such as Al-Madinah International University, Shah Alam, Malaysia (Mediu) and Misr University for Science & Technology (MUST), Egypt; Former Editor-in-Chief of the Electronic Da`wah Committee (EDC), Kuwait; Former Deputy Chief Editor and Managing Editor of the Living Shari`ah Department, www.islamOnline.net; Member of the International Union of Muslim Scholars (IUMS); and member of the World Association of Arab Translators & Linguists (Wata). He is a published writer, translator and researcher. You can reach him at [email protected].