Am I fulfilling the vow I have made regarding my children?

As-salaamu ’alaykum,

I made dua’aa for each of my four sons and one daughter when they were in my womb:

ربي أني نذرت لك ما في بطني محررا فتقبل مني

Now my three older sons ages 8-13 are in hifdh school, I am homeschooling my five year old daughter teaching her Quran and hadith, etc and teaching daily dua’as to my 3 year old son. Am I fulfilling my vow?

 بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم

الجواب حامدا ومصليا ومسلما

For a vow to be valid it must have been made verbally. If it was not uttered but rather an intention only, then it is not mandatory to fulfill that vow. At the same time, because this was done with a good intention to properly raise children, one should still act in accordance with the intended meaning of the vow.

The vow that you have quoted is one that the mother of Maryam عليها السلام had taken when she was expecting a child. She had intended to dedicate her child exclusively to worship of Allah and keep it free from any worldly services.

The fulfillment of the vow you had made would depend on your intention at the time of making the vow. For example, if your intention was that you, to the best of your ability, would dedicate the child towards the Deen, then you should make an active effort in ensuring that the child does not act contrary to the teachings of Islam.

والله اعلم

And Allah subhanahu wa ta’ala knows best.

Waqas Memon

Approved by Mufti Husain Ahmad Madani