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Fatwa CenterA time-free vow should immediately be fulfilled
Question
A while ago, I took a vow to donate 125 dinars in charity for the poor if Allah, the Exalted, would save me from a calamity that befell me. Allah, the Exalted, answered my supplication and saved me—all praise is due to Him. After a while, I decided to donate 25 dinars monthly for orphans, as long as I can afford it. My question is: will I be cleared of my liability from the vow after donating the 125 dinars, i.e. after five months (of donating 25 dinars on a monthly basis), noting that I have already donated 25 dinars for two months and that, when I took the vow, I did not specify a certain way of giving the vowed money in charity, whether in installments or all at once?
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.
Your vow is valid and binding, and you are obliged to fulfill it. The Prophet, sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, said: "Whoever vowed to offer an act of obedience to Allaah, the Exalted, must do it..." [Al-Bukhari]
It is better for you to hasten to fulfill your vow if you can so as to clear you of your liability from it and because many scholars believe that a time-free vow (i.e. with no specific time frame) should be fulfilled without delay. This is the opinion of the Hanbali scholars.
Ibn Qasim, in his commentary on A-Rawdh Al-Murbi`, said:
"Zakah should be offered without delay as long as the person is able to pay it, and the same applies to a time-free vow or expiation. When the person says, 'I vow to perform four Rak‘ahs (units of prayer) to Allaah, the Exalted,' or, 'I vow to fast ten days', without setting a specific time frame for the fulfillment of the vow, then he should hasten to fulfill his vow and perform the vowed prayer or fast the vowed fast. Similarly, the vow-taker is obliged to fulfill his vow that has a specific time frame when it becomes due or offer an expiation without delay."
As long as you vowed to give this money to the poor and needy, there is no problem in donating it to orphans as long as they are poor. We would like to point out that you should hold the intention of fulfilling your vow when you donate this money. If you gave the previous 50 dinars without the intention of fulfilling your vow, then it will not be sufficient for you and will not clear you of your liability for the vow.
Allaah Knows best.
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