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Fatwa CenterThe inability to fulfill a vow
Question
Hi I made a mannat that if few things are fulfilled I shall read ayat karima 100,000 times but I am confused because some things have been fulfilled whereas some have not. Can you please tell me if I still need to read the 100,000 ayat karima or not. My other question is if I am unable to read 100,000 ayat karima because I have not told mu family about thia mannat then what can I do? Any expiation?
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.
The vow you made is known as the conditional vow, which is deemed disliked by scholars. However, it must be fulfilled once the thing, upon which the vow was conditioned. For more benefit, please refer to Fataawa 5526 and 200545.
Therefore, if your vow was conditioned upon the occurrence of some of these matters and not all of them, then you are obliged to fulfill it when some of them take place. But if your vow was conditioned upon the occurrence of all these matters, then you are not obliged to fulfill it except when all of them take place.
If you are unable to fulfill your vow at the present time, you may wait and delay the fulfillment of the vow to a time when you can do so. The fact that you did not tell your family about that vow is not a valid excuse for not fulfilling your vow.
If you become totally unable to fulfill your vow – which is unlikely given the nature of your vow - then you should offer the due expiation like that for breaking an oath. Ibn ‘Abbas 
reported that the Prophet, sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, said: "Whoever makes a vow and does not state it specifically, the expiation (for such a vow) is the expiation for breaking an oath. And whoever makes a vow and is not able to fulfill it, the expiation for that is the expiation for breaking an oath. And whoever makes a vow and is able to fulfill it, let him do so." [Abu Daawood and Ibn Maajah]
Imaam Ash-Shawkaani 
said, “If the specified vow (i.e. when the vow-maker states his vow specifically) constitutes obedience to Allaah and he cannot fulfill it, it is incumbent on him to offer expiation like that for breaking an oath. If he is able to fulfill it, then he is obliged to do so whether the fulfillment of the vow is associated with his body or wealth.” [Nayl Al-Awtaar]
For more benefit, please refer to Fatwa 83652.
Allaah Knows best.
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