From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

A promise is a psychological contract indicating a transaction between two persons whereby the first person undertakes in the future to render some service or gift to the second person or devotes something valuable now and here to his use. A promise may also be any vow or guarantee.

Contents 1 Types of promise 2 Promises and religions 2.1 Christianity 2.2 Islam 3 Abuses of the word in everyday use 4 References

Both an oath and an affirmation can be a promise. One special kind of promise is the vow.

A notable type of promise is an election promise. It is notable because it is usually not enforceable by law. It is often wishful thinking.

In Contract Law a promise is a manifestation of intention to act or refrain from acting in a specified way. It is so made as to justify a promisee in understanding that a commitment has been made. The person manifesting the intention is the promisor. The person to whom the manifestation is addressed is the promisee. Where Performance of the promise is assumed to benefit a person other than the promisee, that person is a beneficiary. But in contract law the word promise is commonly used to refer to promises which result in the promisor's word justifying expectations of performance from which a legal duty will arise in term of results. For instance A orally agrees to sell Land to B.This is an offer. B agrees to buy the Land and pays $1000 to A. This is an acceptance of the offer. If the land did not legally belong to A. This is a Fraud and B is legally expected to recover his $1000 By virtue of this indirect recognition of the duty to convey promise accurately, the agreement is a contract. If the promise is obviously misunderstood, the contract is void. Some says that the contract is a promise for a promise.

Religions have differing attitudes towards promises.

Main article: Oath

In Christianity, a distinction is made between simple promises and oaths/vows, with only the latter being seen as involving God, either as witness to the promise or recipient of it, although He sees the simple promises too.

The act of making a solemn oath may be done on one's own, but certain oaths or vows, especially when it effects a person's vocation in life and role in the community, are made publicly, and before a priest or public official. A Christian who makes an oath to God is responsible for it, not to the peril of his soul, but as a sin if he breaks it. God is forgiving through Jesus Christ when one repents.

Certain sects of Western Christianity, amongst them the Religious Society of Friends and the Mennonites, object to the taking of both oaths and affirmations, basing their objections upon a commandment given in the Sermon on the Mount, and regard all promises to be witnessed by God.

In An-Nahl 91, Allah forbids Muslims to break their promises after they have confirmed them. All promises are regarded as having Allah as their witness and guarantor. In the Hadith, Muhammad states that a Muslim who made a promise and then saw a better thing to do, should do the better thing and then make an act of atonement for breaking the promise.¹

The word is usually often abused in the corporate world for the sake of doing business, and can be a source of liability and misunderstandings harmful to both companies and consumers. A promise can also be a contract or agreement, and if not fulfilled has legal ramifications. If an employee makes a promise to a customer or client, the entire company can be held liable, despite the general rule that a promise can only be made by an individual, and cannot be transferred. A third party cannot be obligated to fulfill a promise, though they can be empowered to do so.

1. Chapter: 60. Kitaab At-Tawheed. Retrieved on September 11, 2005.