THE FASTS OF NAZAR (MANNAT – VOWS)
THE FASTS OF NAZAR (MAN’NAT – VOWS)
A Shar’i Man’nat is that fast, which once a vow has been taken to
observe it, fulfilling it becomes Waajib. There are certain
unconditional pre-requisites for it:
- It should be such a Man’nat, which is something that qualifies under
the Waajib act. One cannot take a Man’nat (vow) to visit a sick person,
or to go to the Masjid, or to go with the Janaazah, as these are invalid. - The Ibaadat should by itself be the objective. It should not be a
means to another Ibaadat. Therefore, to take the Man’nat of
performing Wudu, or Ghusl, or looking at the Mushaf is not a valid
Man’nat. - The Man’nat should not be for that which the Shariah has already
made Waajib upon him, be it in the present or in the future; for
example, to take a Man’nat to pray the Zuhr of today, or to pray any
Fard Namaaz is not valid, because these are already compulsory upon
him. - The Man’nat which he has taken should be something which by
itself is not something which is sinful, and if it is sinful for some other
the reason, then the Man’nat is still valid. For example, to fast on the Day
of Eid is forbidden, if he has taken a Man’nat to fast on Eid day, the
Man’nat will be valid, even though the command is that he cannot
keep it on that day, rather he will have to keep it on some other day,
as this being forbidden is temporary, i.e. it is forbidden because it is
the day of Eid, but fasting by itself, is actually something that is
permitted. - It should not be the Man’nat of something which is totally
impossible to fulfill. For example, if a person took a Man’nat, saying I
will fast yesterday. This Man’nat is invalid (as yesterday has passed
and it is totally impossible to do).
LAWS OF JURISPRUDENCE
Law 1: For the Man’nat to be valid, it is also not necessary that the
intention of it should be in the heart. If he intended to say something
else and the words of Man’nat were uttered from the tongue, the
Man’nat has become valid. If he intended to say, for the pleasure of
Allah, I am liable to keep fast for one day, and instead of the day the
word month was mentioned by him, so now it is Waajib for him to
keep fast for the one month. [Raddul Muhtar, vol.1, pg.170]
Law 2: If one took a Man’nat to fast on ‘Ayaam-e-Manhiya’ in other
words the days of Eid, Baqr Eid and on the 11th, 12th, and 13th of Zul Hijjah, and he also went ahead and kept the fasts on these days, then
even though it was sinful to do so, but the Man’nat will still be
regarded as being discharged. [Durr-e-Mukhtar, vol.2, pg.170]
Law 3: If one made a Man’nat observe fasts for this year, then in
this case he may keep fast for the entire year, excluding the ‘Ayaam-e Manhiya’, and he may keep these fasts on any other days except these
days. If he also kept the fasts on the ‘Ayaam-e-Manhiya’ the Man’nat
has been discharged, but he is sinful. This rule is if he intended the
Man’nat before the ‘Ayaam-e-Manhiya’, and if he intended it after the
‘Ayaam-e-Manhiya.’ In other words, if he intended the fasts of this
year, on the eve of the 14th of Zul-Hijjah, then the Man’nat will be
discharged by fasting until the end of Zil- Hijjah because this
(current) year ends at the end of Zil Hijjah. If he intended before
Ramadaan the fasts of this year, then he is not liable to keep the fasts
which are in place of the fasts of Ramadaan (i.e. they are included). If
he took a Man’nat to keep fasts one after the other (continuously),
then even in this case he cannot fast on the forbidden days. He should
not fast on those days, but he should keep the Qaza of those fasts
afterward, one after the other. If he remains even one day without
fasting, then all the fasts which he kept before that day, will have to
be repeated. If he intended a Man’nat to fast for the entire year, then
after keeping fast for an entire year, he should still keep a further
thirty-five or twenty-four fasts; in other words, in place of the month
of Ramadaan, and for the five days of ‘Ayaam-e-Manhiya,’ even
though he may have kept fast on these days because in this situation
they are not sufficient. However, if he said, I will keep the fast of one
year continuously, then now there is no need for him to keep the fasts
of those thirty days, but in this case, if they are not kept one after the
other (without a break except for the forbidden days), then he will
have to start all over again. However, he should not fast on the
forbidden days, but after the year ends, he should keep five fasts
continuously (i.e. one after the other). [Durr-e-Mukhtar, Raddul
Muhtar, vol.2, pg.170]
Law 4: In the words of Man’nat, the conjecture of Yameen (i.e. a
Qasm) is also present, thus here there are six cases:
1. If one did not make any Niyyat with those words, neither that of
Man’nat nor that of Yameen (Oath).
2. If he only made the Niyyat of Man’nat. In other words, He did not
intend it being Yameen or not.
- If he made the Niyyat of Man’nat and stipulated that it is not
Yameen. - If he made the Niyyat of Yameen and stipulated that it is not
Man’nat. - If he made the Niyyat of both Man’nat and Yameen.
- If he only made the Niyyat of Yameen, and he did not make Niyyat
of it either being or not being a Man’nat.
In the first three cases, it is only counted as being Man’nat, so if he
does not fulfill it, he must keep the Qaza for it. In the fourth case, it is
counted as Yameen (an Oath), and if he does not complete it, he will
have to give Kaffarah. In the fifth and sixth cases, it is both Man’nat
and Yameen. If he does not fulfill it, he must perform the Qaza for the
Man’nat and discharge the Kaffarah for the Yameen. [Tanweer ul
Absaar, vol.6, pg.171]
Law 5: If he made a Man’nat keep the fasts of this month, and the
Ayam-e-Manhiya fall within this month, he should not fast on those
days, but he should keep the fasts in place of them afterward, and if
he already kept them (on the forbidden days), he is sinful, but the
Man’nat has been discharged. In this case, it is not Waajib to keep fasts
for the entire month, but he will keep the number of fasts depending
on the number of days which are remaining in the month, from the
a day when he made the Man’nat, as it is Waajib upon him only on those
days. If that month was the month of Ramadaan, then the Man’nat is
not valid at all, because the fasts of Ramadaan are by themselves Fard.
However, if he took a Man’nat of fasting in the month of Ramadaan
and he passed away before Ramadaan, then it is also Waajib to make a
Wasiyat of feeding the needy (Miskeen) for one month. If one made a
Man’nat to fast in a specific month, such as in Rajab or Sha’baan, then
in this case, it is necessary to fast for that entire month. If that month
is 29 days, he should fast 29 days and if it has 30 days, he should fast 30
days; and he should not miss any fast. However, if he does miss a fast,
then he should keep it afterward, as in this case there is no need to
repeat all the other fasts. [Raddul Muhtar, vol.2, pg.170]
Law 6: If one made the Man’nat of fasting for one month, it is Waajib
for him to keep the fast for a full 30 days, even though the month in
which he kept it was a month with 29 days. It is also necessary that he
should not keep any fasts on the Ayaam-e-Manhiya, because in this
case if he keeps those fasts during the Ayaam-e-Manhiya, then he is
already sinful for doing so, and those fasts are also not sufficient. Also,
if he included the condition of fasting one after the other, or if he
made this Niyyat in his heart, then it is necessary that he should not
miss any. If he missed any fasts, even though it may be in the Ayaame-Manhiya, then from now, he must keep the fast of one month
without any interruption. In other words, it is necessary that within
those thirty days, there should not be such a day in which fasting is
forbidden. If he did not specify the condition of keeping it one after
the other (without interruption), and neither is it in the Niyyat, then
in this case, keeping thirty fasts separately will also allow the Man’nat
to be discharged. If a female made a Man’nat fast for an entire
month, one after the other (uninterrupted), then if she gets a full
a month or more in the state of Tahaarat (i.e. purification without
having Haidh), then it is necessary for her to start in such a time, so
that the thirty days end before her Haidh commences; otherwise, she
will have to keep thirty after the Haidh has ended, and if she gets
Haidh before the month ends completely, then, in this case, she should
keep as many fasts as she can before, and then after the Haidh she
should continue the remaining fasts one after the other without
missing any. [Durr-e-Mukhtar, Raddul Muhtar, vol.2, pg.172]
Law 7: If one made a Man’nat fast one after the other
(uninterrupted), then to miss any is impermissible, and if one
separately made Niyyat of keeping ten fasts, then to keep them all,
one after the other is also permissible. [Bahr, Shaami, vol.2, pg.176]
Law 8: Man’nat is of two types, one is Mu’allaq (pending) where one
says that if such and such of my issues are resolved, or if such and such
a person returns from his journey, then I am liable for this much Fasts,
or Namaaz, or Sadaqa, etc. for Allah.
The other type is Ghayr Mu’allaq, which is not dependent on whether
something happens of not, in other words, he says, I am making
compulsory upon myself this many fasts, or Namaaz, or Sadaqa, etc. for
the pleasure of Allah. In Ghayr Mu’allaq, even though one may specify
a time or place, but there is no ruling stating that it cannot be fulfilled
before this time frame, or differently, because even if he kept the fasts
or performed those Namaaz etc. before the time, it will still be
counted as being discharged. [Durr-e-Mukhtar, vol.2, pg.172/173]
Law 9: If one took Man’nat to fast for this Rajab, and he kept the fasts
in Jamadil Aakhir and it was a month of twenty-nine days, then if
Rajab also is a month with twenty-nine days, it will be counted as
being discharged, and there is no need to keep one more fast. If it
(Rajab) becomes a thirty-day month, then he must keep one more fast.
[Raddul Muhtar, vol.2, pg.173]
Law 10: If he made Niyyat keep fast this Rajab, and he fell ill in
Rajab, then he should keep the Qaza during some other days, and
when keeping this Qaza he has the choice of fasting continuously or
fasting with a gap in-between them. [Durr-e-Mukhtar, vol.2, pg.174]
Law 11: In Mu’allaq, one cannot keep the fasts before the condition is
fulfilled. If one kept the fasts before, and the condition was met later,
then those fasts must be repeated. The initial fasts will not be counted
as equal. [Durr-e-Mukhtar, vol.2, pg.173]
Law 12: If one made Niyyat fast for one day, then he has the choice
of keeping it on any day except for the Ayaam-e-Manhiya. The same
applies if he made an intention to fast for two days or three days.
However, if he made Niyyat keep them one after the other, then to
keep them one after the other is Waajib, otherwise, he has the choice
to keep them all together or with a gap in-between. If he intended to
keep them with a gap and he kept them all together, it is still permissible.
[Alamgiri, vol.1, pg.209]
Law 13: If one made Niyyat of keeping ten fasts all at once, and he
kept fifteen fasts and in-between somewhere he missed one fast, and
he cannot remember on which day he did not fast, then he should
keep five more fasts uninterrupted again. [Alamgiri, vol.1, pg.209]
Law 14: If a sick person took a Man’nat of keeping fasts for one
month, and he did not regain good health, and he passed away, then
he is not liable for anything, but if he became well for even one day,
and he did not fast, then it is Waajib to make Wasiyat for Fidya for an
entire month. If he kept fast on that one day, then still there must be a
Wasiyat for the other days. Similarly, if a fit person took a Man’nat
and he passed away before the month finished, it is also Waajib on him
to make Wasiyat for this, and if he took a Man’nat at night and he
passed away in the same night, then to Wasiyat should be made.
[Durr-e-Mukhtar, Raddul Muhtar, vol.2, pg.173]
Law 15: If one took a Man’nat saying, it is Waajib upon me to keep
fast for Allah, on the day on which such and such person returns. In
this case, if the person returns before Zahwa e Kubra, and he has not
eaten or drank anything, he should fast, and if the person returns at
night, then there is nothing. Similarly, if he returned after Zawaal or
after he had already eaten something or the one who took the
Man’nat was a female and on that day she got her Haidh, then in all
In these cases there is nothing. However, if he said, ‘It is Waajib upon me
to fast always for the pleasure of Allah, on the day on which such and
such person returns,’ and if the person returned after he had eaten,
then he is not liable for the fast of that day, but the fast of that day on
all the weeks which follow have become Waajib on him. For example,
if the person returned on a Monday, then he must fast on every
Monday. [Alamgiri, vol.2, pg.208]
Law 16: If one took this Man’nat that the fast of the day on which
such and such person returns will be upon me always, and he took a
second Man’nat in which he said, the fast of the day on which such
and such person gets cured, is upon me for always. Then, if coincidentally, the day on which he came, is the same day on which he
became well, then, in this case, he will only keep the fast of that one
day every week. This is Waajib upon him. [Alamgiri, vol.1, pg.209]
Law 17: If one took a Man’nat to fast for half the day, then this
Man’nat is not proper (i.e. invalid). [Alamgiri, vol.1, pg.209