Fulfilling a Vow After a Child Is Born Lifeless

Question:

A person vowed to slaughter two sheep if provided with a child. Then, the child came out lifeless, so does he have to fulfil the vow?

Answer:

“It depends on his intention.

If the intention was [to slaughter] out of happiness and joy over the child and [prospect of] the benefit he will bring in the future—even if he did not say it out loud, but this was his intention—he does not have to fulfil this vow because he intended a particular type of child: a child that would bring him happiness, benefit him in the future, and so on, not just any child.

But if he did not specify that, nor did it cross his mind, and he simply said: ‘If I am provided with a child,’ this [child] is still considered to be a provision.

Even if he does not benefit from him in this life, he will benefit from him in the Hereafter—in shāʾ Allāh—as he will intercede on his behalf in front of Allāh—subḥānahu wa taʿālā.”

Answered by: Shaykh Abū Bilāl al-Ḥaḍramī (May Allāh preserve him)

Source : https://t.me/abubilalhami/9059

Translated by: Abū Sufyān Sāmī ibn Daniel al-Ghānī