Swearing by something other than Allah!!!

Allah may swear by whatever of His creatures He wills, but His creatures are not permitted to swear by anything other than Allah.

Many people swear all kinds of oaths by things other than Allah, but swearing by something is like glorifying it, and it is not right to glorify anything or anyone other than Allah.

Ibn Umar (ra) reported that the Prophet (pbuh) said: “Allah has prohibited that you should swear by your fathers. If anyone swears, let him swear by Allah, or else remain silent.” (al-Bukhari; see al-Fath, 11/530)

Ibn Umar (ra) also reported that the Prophet (pbuh) said: “Whoever swears by something other than Allah is guilty of shirk.” (Ahmad, 2/125; see Sahih al-Jaami', 6204)

The Prophet (pbuh) said: “Whoever swears by trustworthiness is not one of us.” (Abu Dawud 3253; see also al-Silsilah al-Sahihah, no. 94)

 

It is not permitted to swear by the Ka'bah, by trustworthiness, by honour, by help, by the blessing of so-and-so, by the life of so-and-so, by the virtue of the Prophet, by the virtue of a wali, by one's father and mother, by the heads of one's children, etc. All of that is haraam, and the expiation for doing it is to say La ilaaha ill-Allah, as is stated in the Sahih hadith: “Whoever swears and says By "al-Laat" or By "al-Uzza,‟ let him say La ilaaha ill-Allah (there is no god except Allah).” (al-Bukhari al-Fath, 11/536)

There are other phrases that similarly involve shirk and are therefore forbidden, but that are often spoken by Muslims, such as:

“I seek refuge with Allah and with you,"

"I am depending on Allah and on you,”

“This is from Allah and from you,"

"I have no-one but Allah and you"

"I have Allah in heaven and I have you on earth,”

“If it were not for Allah and so-and-so,”

“Time has let me down”

(And every other expression which involves cursing time, like saying, “This is a bad time,” “This is an unlucky time,” “Time is a betrayer,” etc., because cursing time is an insult to Allah Who has created time), references to “Nature's way.”

Names that imply being a slave of anyone other than Allah, such as Abd al-Maseeh, Abd al-Nabi, Abd al-Rasool and Abd al-Husayn, are also forbidden.

There are also modern expressions which are contrary to Tawheed and are therefore haram, such as “Islamic socialism,” “Islamic democracy,” “The will of the people is the will of Allah,” “Religion is for Allah and the land is for the people,” “In the name of Arabism,” “In the name of the revolution,” etc.

 

It is also haram to use titles such as “King of kings” or “Judge of judges” for human beings; to address munafiqeen or kuffaar with titles like “Sayyid (master)” (whether speaking Arabic or other languages), to use the words “If only... (kaash)” - which imply discontent and regret, and open the way for Shaytan and to say “O Allah, forgive me if You want to.”

And indeed Allah knows best!!!