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Fatwa CenterVowed to give money in charity but forgot how much
Question
I am an Egyptian young man. When I was a university student, I took a vow before each exam that I would spend a certain sum of money in charity if I passed it. Other times, I vowed to perform a specific number of Rak‘ahs (units of prayer) if I passed the exam. Days went by and I passed all the exams about which I took those vows, all praise is due to Allah, the Exalted. However, time going by, I forgot the number of Rak‘ahs that I vowed to perform and the exact amount of money that I vowed to spend in charity. What should I do? This issue is annoying me, and I want to fulfill my vows. I guess I know the minimum number of Rak‘ahs that I vowed to perform and the minimum amount of the vowed money, but I cannot remember the exact number of Rak‘ahs that I vowed to perform or the exact amount of money. I used to remind myself that I should spend such-and-such in charity, but now I fail to remember the exact amount. The same can be said about the number of Rak‘ahs that I vowed to perform. What should I do? Can I do anything to expiate for not fulfilling those vows? Please advise.
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 
is His Slave and Messenger.
Firstly, we would like to point out that it is disliked for the vow-taker to render his vow conditional upon the occurrence of a certain thing. Nevertheless, it is incumbent on the vow-taker to deliver on his conditional vow when this condition is fulfilled (i.e. the thing upon which he conditioned his vow takes place). As for the number of Rak‘ahs that you vowed to perform and the vowed amount of money that you have forgotten, you should strive to remember the number of the vowed Rak‘ahs and the amount of the vowed money. If you failed to remember it, then you should perform as many Rak‘ahs as what you believe to be sufficient for clearing you of your liability and spend in charity until you become sure or almost sure that you have cleared yourself of your liability from those vows.
Allaah Knows best.
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