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Fatwa CenterVow formula is crucial for making it binding
Question
One day, my husband said to himself that he would give 10% of his salary for the sake of Allah if He would give him a job opportunity abroad. Then, afterwards, he said: "I will not wait for the job opportunity, but I will give (the sum) from now on." He indeed started to give this sum, may Allah honor him. But, sometimes we need to buy indispensable things such as clothes for winter or an electric vacuum cleaner to help me with the housework. Is it permissible to take from this 10% when necessary? Is the statement that he said to himself considered a binding vow? Would you please urgently answer me?
Answer
All perfect praise be to Allaah, the Lord of the worlds. I testify that there is none worthy of worship except Allaah and that Muhammad, sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, is His slave and messenger.
A vow is a pledge made by a Muslim who is competent for religious obligations to do an act of obedience to Allaah Almighty seeking thereby to draw close to Him. It is conditioned that one expresses the vow through words, if he is able, or through writing or gesturing, if he is unable. There is no specific wording for the vow to be binding. Rather, it is binding with any statement signifying pledge and commitment, such as, "If Allaah heals my patient, I will give such and such as charity." According to the majority of the scholars, mentioning the word 'vow' is not conditioned for the validity of a vow. Rather, it is valid with whatever statement that implies the meaning of pledge and commitment.
The following is stated in Al-Mawsoo‘ah Al-Fiqhiyyah:
The scholars unanimously agree that a verbalized or written statement that includes the word 'vow' makes the vow binding and that it must be fulfilled. Rather, they provided two different opinions regarding statements that do not include the word 'vow', such as, "I will do such-and-such for the Sake of Allaah."
In Al-Mughni, Ibn Qudamah 
said: "The wording of a vow is to say, 'It is due upon me to Allaah Almighty to do such-and such'. If the person says, 'I vow to do such-and-such', then the vow is binding because he explicitly mentioned it. It is also considered a vow when he says, 'If Allaah heals me, I will fast a month.'"
In Mughni Al-Muhtaaj, Ash-Shirbeeni, a Shafi‘i scholar said: "It is a condition for the wording of the vow to be binding to mention words that signify pledge. Unlike other contracts, a vow is not binding by mere intention."
Discussing the wording of the vow, the author of Nihayat Al-Muhtaj said: "It is a condition that the wording implies pledge, like other contracts, such as 'It is due upon me to Allaah Almighty to do such-and-such ', 'I vow to do so and so', and other similar wordings."
It seems that the statement made by the questioner's husband that he would give 10% of his salary for the sake of Allaah if He would give him a job opportunity abroad is not considered a vow because it is free from the word vow and also does not have any word signifying pledge. Consequently, he is not required to do anything.
The aforesaid elaboration applies to the case in which the husband said the word vow or any other word to this effect. Nonetheless, if it was just a thought that was not verbally expressed, then he is not liable to do anything. It was narrated that the Prophet, sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, said: "Allaah has pardoned for my Ummah (nation) what crosses their mind unless such things are put into effect either in deeds or words." [Al-Bukhari and Muslim]
Allaah Knows best.
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