An employee who made a serious mistake at work denied any knowledge of it. When he was asked to swear on the Qur’an to confirm the truth of what he was saying, he did so. He was terribly afraid that he would lose his job if he would own up to his mistake. He later regretted what he did. A reader whose name and address he wants to be withheld asks what is the punishment of false swearing? I am often asked about punishments for this and that offense. This is not the way Muslims should address their problems. We cannot think of God as waiting for people to commit offenses so that He can punish them. Nor should we think of Islam as a penal code which sets out a long list of punishments for a wide variety of offenses. No, Islam lays much more emphasis on repentance and mending one’s ways as a means to earn God’s pleasure. The Prophet says: “Every human being is liable to commit errors, and the best of those who err are the ones who repent and mend their ways.”

What we should know is that Islam specifies punishments for only seven offenses. As for other offenses, the punishment is discretionary, which means that the judge determines the punishment according to the circumstances of every case.

There is no doubt that what the man did is a grave offense, because he knowingly told an untruth and then confirmed it as true, swearing on the Qur’an to that effect. That he was in fear of losing his job may count as part of extenuating circumstances, but the offense is a serious one, nevertheless. He should have known better. He should have known that no one can control our means of sustenance except God Himself. If he were to lose his job because of owning up to his mistake when he could keep it with a simple lie, God would certainly look after him and provide him with a similar, or even better job.

I cannot tell here what is the punishment for this offense. Only a Muslim judge can do that after looking at the case in depth. However, the best thing this person can do is to seriously and genuinely repent of his sin. That should be coupled with a firm resolve not to repeat the offense. When he has done that, God may forgive him.

Gratitude to God

God’s favors bestowed on everyone of us are too many to enumerate. We need only to look around us and we will find many people less favored than ourselves. If we consider the health we enjoy, and the provisions that we have at our disposal, we realize that God’s blessings are with us at every moment in our lives. But God also grants us favors for which we might have prayed Him. We should always be grateful to God and we should show our gratitude in practice.

Mr. A.H. Shariq of Al-Khobar wonders whether we may show such gratitude by offering prayers or fasting, which we determine in advance and do when a particular matter we want is realized. This is what is known as a pledge, or nathr. One may say that if God grants him a good success in his exams or cures his illness, he will pray so many rakaahs or fast so many days, or he will say so many glorifications of God. While this is not forbidden, it is not encouraged. God does not need our prayer or fasting or praises. It is we who benefit by our worship. He says in a sacred, or qudsi, Hadith: “If the first of you and the last of you, the human of you and the jinn of you were as pious as the most pious heart of any one man of you, that would not increase My kingdom in anything.” So what benefit would a few rakaahs of prayer or a few days of fasting do to God? It is not right to say to God, “I will do this or that for you if you would grant me this wish of mine”. The proper attitude is to pray God earnestly to give us what we want as a favor which He will, if He so pleases. When we get it we express our gratitude as we have been taught by the Prophet. We prostrate ourselves in a sajdah of thanksgiving. We glorify God and express our faith in Him and gratitude to Him for all His favors and blessings.

On the other hand, when we make a pledge, it becomes binding on us unless it includes anything that is forbidden. The Prophet tells us that when we pledge something to God which is lawful in Islam, we must do it. If it is unlawful, we must not do it.

My reader also asks how he should offer his prayers if he is taking a flight at 4.30 in the afternoon, and will not reach his destination until 4 a.m. the following morning. This is simple. He should offer Asr prayer together with Zuhr before he leaves home, praying each in four rakaahs. If his flight includes a stopover on the way, he offers Maghrib and Isha in the airport where he stops, either in the airport building if he gets down, or on the plane if he does not. If the flight is a direct one, without a stopover, he offers the two prayers in flight, while seated in his seat. He offers three rakaahs for Maghrib and two for Isha. He should also pray witr. The same applies to Fajr. If he arrives in time for prayer, he offers it on arrival. If he fears that he will miss it, he offers it on the plane, during his journey.

Arab News Islam 16 December 2002