A vow in the form “if such-and-such happens, the sacrifice of one goat is wajib”

Question

Question: In Bihishti Zewar Akhtari (“Heavenly Ornaments”), vol. 3, p. 49, “Chapter on making vows,” mas’ala 14: “If someone said: ‘If my brother gets well, I will slaughter a goat,’ the vow is valid.” Yet in al-Durr al-Mukhtar it says: [ar]ولو قال: إن برئت من مرضي هذا فذبحت شاة أو علي شاة أذبحها فبرئ لا يلزمه؛ لأن الذبح ليس من نوع فيه فرض[/ar] “And if he said: ‘If I recover from this illness of mine, I will slaughter a goat,’ or: ‘It is on me to slaughter a goat,’ and he recovered, it is not binding on him,…

Answer

In our custom (‘urf) such a vow is made for the sake of giving charity: thus, of this goat they neither eat themselves nor feed the rich, but give all of it away in charity. Therefore the condition laid down in al-Durr al-Mukhtar is present here: [ar]ولو قال: إن برئت من مرضي هذا فذبحت شاة أو علي شاة أذبحها فبرئ لا يلزمه شيء؛ لأن الذبح ليس من جنسها فرض، بل واجب كالأضحية، فلا…

Source: Fatawa Mahmudiyya

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