The oath (qasam) in Arabic, as in English, is used to emphasize in the mind of the reader or listener the importance or truthfulness of the idea which follows it in the sentence. In English, the most common format is “by God,” wherein “by” represents the phrase “as surely as I believe in.” However, Arabic linguists have traditionally divided the format of the oath into three basic parts:

1. the verb: “I swear by;”

2. the person, thing, or event by which the oathis taken;

3. the person, thing, or event on which the oath is taken.31

The phrase, “I swear by” (aqsimu bi) is often reduced to the particle “by” (“bi”), and “ ta” and “wa” are often used in place of “bi.” These particles are then joined to the person or thing by which the oath is taken. Hence the oath, “I swear by Allaah,” may be expressed in Arabic as, “Aqsimu bil-laah,” “bil-laah,” “ tallaah,” or “wal-laah.” Occasionally both the verb, the particle, and the person or thing by which the oath is taken are all deleted, leaving only the person, thing, or event on which the oath is taken, prefixed with la, a particle of emphasis. An example of this type of deletion can be found in the verse,

This verse should read, “[By Allaah,] you will certainly be tested.” In the Qur’aan, the vast majority of oaths are made by created things; for example,

However, there are exactly seven places where oaths are made by Allaah.34 Allaah commands the Prophet (ﷺ) to swear by Allaah in three of those places, as in the following example:

In the remaining four instances, Allaah swears by Himself, as in the following example:

Allaah, being the creator of all things may swear by whatever he wishes; however, man is not allowed to swear by anything but Allaah. The reason being that oaths are taken by the things which one holds in the highest of esteem and only Allaah should be revered in this manner. Hence, oaths by the stars, by one’s father’s grave or even by the Prophet (ﷺ) or by the Ka‘bah are all forbidden and considered shirk (associating partners with Allaah). The Righteous Caliph and close companion of the Prophet (ﷺ), ‘Umar ibn al-Khattaab, reported that Allaah’s Messenger (ﷺ) said,

Almighty Allaah swears by the wonders of His creation because they all point to Him as the Creator and Sustainer.

Occasionally in the Qur’aan, the very thing or event on which an oath is taken may be deleted. Deletion in this case may be due to the clarity of the context and the implication of the oath itself; for example, the oaths:

and the verse following them:

indicate that the missing events on which the oaths were taken are, “you will be resurrected and judged.” This type of deletion in Arabic is used to dramatically increase the effect of the passage, much in the same way that warnings are orally expressed in English; for example, “You had better stop doing that, or else!”