The Ruling on Swearing by Other than Allah

Question:

What is the ruling on swearing by other than Allah, is it Shirk or not?

Answer:

Swearing by other than Allah, whether an angel, Prophet, Waliy, or any created being is forbidden. This is based Wally: "A friend" meaning of Allah. It refers to any believer whom Allah loves. It is also used by various deviant groups to refer to their saints.
upon the authentic Hadith of Ibn 'Umar, may Allah be pleased with him, that the Prophet saw 'Umar bin Al-Khattab while he was riding with a group of horsemen and he heard 'Umar swearing by his father. So the Messenger of Allah called out to them:
Verily, Allah the Almighty and Majestic has forbidden you from swearing by your fathers. Whoever swears, he should swear by Allah or be silent. In another narration on the authority of him, it is reported that the Messenger of Allah said:
"Whoever swears should not swear except by Allah. » The Quraish used to swear by their fathers and he said (to them):
"Do not swear by your fathers.
These were narrated by Muslim and others. So the Prophet prohibited swearing by other than Allah, and a prohibition normally means Tahrim,indeed, it has been authentically reported from him that he called it Shirk. 'Umar bin Al- Khattab, may Allah be pleased with him, said that Allah's Messenger said:
"Whoever swears by anything other than Allah, has committed Shirk,And it is reported on the authority of Ibn 'Umar, may Allah be pleased with him, that Allah's Messenger said:
"Whoever swore by other than Allah, he has committed Shirk or disbelief.

Scholars have interpreted this to mean minor Shirk, and they said: It is a form of disbelief that is less than the major disbelief which takes a person out of the fold of Islam, may Allah protect us from that. But it is one of the greatest of the major sins. This is why Ibn Mas'ud, may Allah be pleased with him, said: "That I should swear by Allah to a lie is better to me than that I should swear by other than Allah to the truth." This is supported by what Abu Hurairah reported from the Messenger of Allah, that he said:
"Whoever among you swore by other than Allah, saying in his oath: "By Al-Lat", should say: "La ilaha illallah (none has the right to be worshipped except Allah) and whoever said to his brother: "Come, and I will gamble with you" he should give charity.

So he ordered any Muslim who swore by Al-Lat to say afterwards: "La ilaha illallah" to negate the swearing by other than Allah, the belief, in Whose Complete Oneness is obligatory. This is because of the glorification of other than Allah, which results from ascribing to another what should only be for Him - i.e. swearing by Him.

As for those Hadiths which contain swearing by parents, they are from before its prohibition, in accordance with the customs of Quraish in the days of pre-Islamic ignorance.