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Fatwa CenterEffects of swearing an oath on the Bible
Question
Is it permissible to take an oath by the parts of the Bible that were not altered and distorted, as it is a Divine Book, just as we swear on the Quran, as it is the Speech of Allaah The Exalted?
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.
Swearing an oath on the Bible that is not distorted and altered is permissible and such an oath is considered binding, since it is the Speech of Allaah The Exalted.
Al-Buhooti 
a Hanbali scholar, said in his book Kashshaaf Al-Qinaa‘, “The same ruling applies to swearing an oath by the Torah (Old Testament) and all the Divinely-revealed books such as the Bible (New Testament) and Az-Zaboor (the Book of Psalms). It is considered a binding oath and breaking it entails paying expiation because the general indication refers to that was revealed by Allaah The Exalted and not to what was distorted and altered. The sanctity of such Books is not cancelled by the fact that they were abrogated by the Quran just like the sanctity of the abrogated verses of the Quran (is not undermined by the fact that they were abrogated). This does not change the fact that it is the Speech of Allaah The Exalted.”
Shaykh Zakariyya Al-Ansaari, the Shaafi‘i scholar said in his book Asna al-Mataalib, “If a Muslim swears an oath by an abrogated verse of the Quran, or swears by the Torah, or the Bible, his oath is considered binding because all this is the Speech of Allaah The Exalted and is therefore one of the Attributes relating to His Majestic Essence.”
The Maaliki scholar Khaleel said in his Al-Mukhtasar, listing the forms of binding oaths: “(and those sworn by) The Quran, the Torah, and the Bible.”
Allaah Knows best.
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