When is an oath allowed in Islam? 

SHAH ALAM – When former prime minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak takes the Islamic oath to swear innocence before the final week of his SRC International Sdn Bhd final appeal, it left many people confused on what the oath means and when it is allowed in Islam.

Pahang Mufti Datuk Seri Dr Abdul Rahman Osman when contacted said the oath that Najib took last Sunday was a mubahallah oath, and it was allowed on three occasions.

Pulau Pinang Mufti Datuk Seri Dr Wan Salim echoed Rahman’s view and said the oath was allowed firstly when the individual wanted to make peace between two conflicting parties.

The other two occasions, he said, were using oath as a strategy in warfare and in marriage cases in which it was taken for the betterment of the marriage.

Rahman said that a mubahallah oath was usually done within the Syariah court.

However, since Najib’s appeal was not done in a Syariah court, the mubahallah system was not applicable.

He also said there was no specific time for this kind of oath to be taken.

“If it cannot be done in court, then it can be done in a Masjid to purify oneself,” he told Sinar Daily.

He added that in Najib’s case, he intended to purify his name through a mubahallah oath and in the Islamic Syariah there was no argument (dalil) that stated swearing such oath in that circumstances was not allowed.

However, even though it was permissible in Islam, such practise was not recommended.

“Even though it is permissible in Islam, it is not highly recommended,” Abdul Rahman said.

Wan Salim also added that some ulama’ requires oath swearing to be allowed in cases where acquirement of rights cannot be attained unless swearing an oath was committed.

Last Sunday, Najib swore an oath at Kampung Baru mosque to deny the allegations of him abusing the SRC International Sdn Bhd funds.

Also present were his son Nor Ashman Najib, his wife Datin Seri Rosmah Mansor and several Umno leaders including Umno secretary-general Datuk Seri Ahmad Maslan and Kelantan Umno liaison committee chairman Datuk Ahmad Jazlan Yaakub.

After the Isya prayer, the congregation performed a ‘solat hajat’ and recited ‘doa munajat’ followed by Najib’s oath swearing.

The rituals of ‘solat hajat’ and ‘doa munajat’ were done for Najib’s final SRC appeal.

However, on Tuesday, Najib was sent to Kajang Prison to serve his prison sentence after the Federal Court upheld his conviction, 12-year prison sentence as well as a fine of RM210 million for misappropriation of RM42 million fund of SRC International Sdn Bhd.