Al-Baqarah: (224) And do not make Allah...

The exegetes have extensively discussed this verse. The best of what they mentioned are two interpretations:

The First Interpretation (Preferred by Abu Muslim al-Isfahani):

The phrase, {And do not make Allah an object/target for your oaths} (ولا تجعلوا الله عرضة لايمانكم), is a prohibition against being presumptuous toward Allah by frequently swearing by Him.

• Whoever frequently mentions something in a specific context makes it an ‘aradah (object/target) for that context. For example, one might say, "You have made me an object of your blame." A poet said:

  Do not make me an object of reproach, And Allah has condemned those who swear frequently, saying: {And do not obey every habitual swearer, contemptible} (Al-Qalam: 10). And He Almighty said: {And guard your oaths} (Al-Ma'idah: 89).

• The Arabs used to praise a person for minimizing oaths. For instance, Kathir said:

  He is sparing in his oaths, O preserver of his oath, Even if an oath slips from him, he fulfills it.

• The wisdom behind commanding the reduction of oaths is that if a person swears by Allah in every trivial or significant matter, their tongue becomes accustomed to it, and the oath loses its weight in their heart. Consequently, they might not hesitate to take a false oath, which defeats the primary purpose of the oath. Furthermore, the more a person glorifies Allah Almighty, the more complete their servitude is. Part of the perfection of glorification is that the mention of Allah Almighty should be held as too sacred and lofty to be used as testimony for any worldly purpose.

• As for the subsequent phrase, {that you may be righteous} (أن تبروا), it serves as the reason for this prohibition. Thus, {that you may be righteous} means "with the intention that you may be righteous." The meaning is: We have forbidden you from this because what is sought is righteousness, piety, and making peace among people on earth, rather than causing corruption.

• Objection: How does refraining from swearing necessitate righteousness, piety, and making peace among people?
• Answer: Because whoever refrains from swearing, believing that Allah Almighty is too great and magnificent to be invoked by His glorious name for trivial worldly demands or base desires, this action is undoubtedly one of the greatest avenues of righteousness. As for piety (taqwā), it is evident that piety means avoiding anything that compromises the glorification of Allah. As for making peace among people, when they believe in the sincerity of his speech and his distance from corrupt intentions, they accept his word, and reconciliation is achieved through him.

The Second Interpretation:

They said that ‘Aradah (عرضة) means an obstacle or a barrier. The proof for the validity of this usage is that it is said: "I intended to do such-and-such, but such-and-such ‘araḍa lī (came across/prevented me)," meaning it obstructed me and prevented me from it. Its derivation is from something placed in the middle of the road, which prevents people from passing through. It is also said: "So-and-so objected to the speech of so-and-so," meaning he mentioned something that prevented the establishment of his speech.

Once you know the root derivation, ‘Aradah is a fa‘lah noun in the sense of the passive participle (maf‘ūl), like qabḍah (a handful) or ghurfah (a scoop). Therefore, it is a noun for something that is made an obstacle and a barrier. Thus, it is established that ‘Aradah means an obstacle.

The lām (preposition) in {for your oaths} (لايمانكم) is for causation.

Knowing this, we say: The meaning of the verse is: Do not make the mention of Allah an obstacle, because of your oaths, from being righteous, or in being righteous. The preposition is omitted because it is clear from the context.

They mentioned that the reason for the revelation of the verse was that a man would swear to abstain from good deeds—such as maintaining kinship ties, reconciling disputes, or showing kindness to one of his dependents—and then say, "I fear Allah lest I break my oath," thus abandoning righteousness out of concern for his oath. Therefore, it was said: Do not make the mention of Allah an obstacle, because of these oaths, from performing righteousness and piety.

This is the best interpretation mentioned by the exegetes. They elaborated on other points, but they were without benefit, so we omitted them.

Then, at the end of the verse, He said: {And Allah is Hearing, Knowing} (والله سميع عليم). This means: If you swear, He hears; and if you refrain from swearing out of glorification and reverence for Allah, lest His noble name be invoked for fleeting worldly matters, He is Knowing and Aware of what is in your hearts and intentions.