The ruling on one who swears an oath of divorce on his wife
Machine translationRead the Arabic original
The questioner : Yes. Peace be upon you.
The Shaykh : And upon you be peace.
The questioner : May Allah greet you, O Umm Shaykh Muhammad.
The Shaykh : May Allah greet you.
The questioner : By Allah, O Shaykh Muhammad, I have a question, and by Allah, I want you to answer it. By Allah, I swore an oath of divorce on my wife that she not work.
The Shaykh : That she not work.
The questioner : That she not work, yes, anything. And in fact, she did not work, but then she came and started crying, and I didn’t know what to do. She was crying and making excuses, so I told her, “By Allah, if I were to ask, for example, inquire about the oath of divorce—if it takes effect, then do not work; and if it does not take effect, I permit you to work.”
The Shaykh : Do you mean work as an employee?
The questioner : Work as an employee, yes.
The Shaykh : Yes, O Shaykh Muhammad.
The questioner : So what is your opinion on this?
The Shaykh : First, may Allah bless you. I advise you and others to be cautious about rushing into divorce. Because the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) saidSahih al-Bukhari 2679. Swearing an oath of divorce is an innovation (bid'ah); it was not known in the time of the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) nor in the time of the Companions.
The questioner : Yes, yes.
The Shaykh : Therefore, the scholars (may Allah have mercy on them) differed on this. Some said that swearing an oath of divorce is a divorce contingent on a condition, so whenever that condition is met, the divorce takes effect. This is the view of the four Imams and the majority of the Ummah.
The questioner : Meaning, if you did it, the oath of divorce takes effect.
The Shaykh : Some scholars, such as Shaykh al-Islam Ibn Taymiyyah (may Allah have mercy on him), held that if a person swears an oath of divorce and it is not his intention to divorce his wife, but he only intended to prevent her, then the ruling of this contingent divorce is the ruling of an oath. That is, he expiates it with the expiation of an oath and it is dissolved by the divorce.
The questioner : What did he do, O Shaykh Muhammad?
The Shaykh : First, I told you this so that you and others would be cautious of this action. The majority of the Islamic Ummah, from its Imams and scholars, say that if a man says to his wife, “I swear by divorce that you will die,” meaning such and such, and she does it, then the divorce takes effect and it is necessary. If he says to her, “If you do this, you are divorced,” and then she does it, the divorce takes effect; it is necessary. This is the view of the majority of the Islamic Ummah from the Imams and scholars. So one must be cautious of this recklessness. However, Shaykh al-Islam (may Allah have mercy on him) and a group of scholars hold that whenever his intention is divorce... he intends here between
The questioner : work.
The Shaykh : and whenever his intention is to prevent her from working and to emphasize it to her and threaten her with divorce, then the divorce does not take effect, and he owes the expiation of an oath.
The questioner : The expiation, O Shaykh Muhammad.
The Shaykh : If he does not find [the means for expiation], he fasts three consecutive days.
The questioner : Her work, I mean, comes at the expense of my work and the work of the house and caring for the children.
The Shaykh : Yes, do not let her work.
The questioner : And at the same time, you do not want her to participate in the household expenses at all.
The Shaykh : Look, may Allah bless you. Prevent her from working as long as the house needs her, and you are provided for by Allah, and you are able to spend on her.
The questioner : By Allah, I mean, honestly, I need her work, but she does not want to participate in the house or in the household expenses in any way.
The Shaykh : So what is the benefit of her work? What is the benefit of her work if she does not participate in the expenses and does not care for her children?
The questioner : I mean, all my salary, for example, is one thousand riyals. The entire salary is housing allowance and everything.
The Shaykh : In any case, as I told you, prevent her as long as the house needs her to care for her children and the affairs of the house. Yes.
The presenter : Yes, may Allah reward you.
The questioner : What Allah willed.
The Shaykh : Until I have been of some benefit to you.
The questioner : Yes, yes.
The Shaykh : And upon you be peace.
The questioner : May Allah greet you, O Umm Shaykh Muhammad.
The Shaykh : May Allah greet you.
The questioner : By Allah, O Shaykh Muhammad, I have a question, and by Allah, I want you to answer it. By Allah, I swore an oath of divorce on my wife that she not work.
The Shaykh : That she not work.
The questioner : That she not work, yes, anything. And in fact, she did not work, but then she came and started crying, and I didn’t know what to do. She was crying and making excuses, so I told her, “By Allah, if I were to ask, for example, inquire about the oath of divorce—if it takes effect, then do not work; and if it does not take effect, I permit you to work.”
The Shaykh : Do you mean work as an employee?
The questioner : Work as an employee, yes.
The Shaykh : Yes, O Shaykh Muhammad.
The questioner : So what is your opinion on this?
The Shaykh : First, may Allah bless you. I advise you and others to be cautious about rushing into divorce. Because the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said
Whoever has to take an oath should swear by Allah or remain silent.
من كان حالفا فليحلف بالله أو ليصمتThe questioner : Yes, yes.
The Shaykh : Therefore, the scholars (may Allah have mercy on them) differed on this. Some said that swearing an oath of divorce is a divorce contingent on a condition, so whenever that condition is met, the divorce takes effect. This is the view of the four Imams and the majority of the Ummah.
The questioner : Meaning, if you did it, the oath of divorce takes effect.
The Shaykh : Some scholars, such as Shaykh al-Islam Ibn Taymiyyah (may Allah have mercy on him), held that if a person swears an oath of divorce and it is not his intention to divorce his wife, but he only intended to prevent her, then the ruling of this contingent divorce is the ruling of an oath. That is, he expiates it with the expiation of an oath and it is dissolved by the divorce.
The questioner : What did he do, O Shaykh Muhammad?
The Shaykh : First, I told you this so that you and others would be cautious of this action. The majority of the Islamic Ummah, from its Imams and scholars, say that if a man says to his wife, “I swear by divorce that you will die,” meaning such and such, and she does it, then the divorce takes effect and it is necessary. If he says to her, “If you do this, you are divorced,” and then she does it, the divorce takes effect; it is necessary. This is the view of the majority of the Islamic Ummah from the Imams and scholars. So one must be cautious of this recklessness. However, Shaykh al-Islam (may Allah have mercy on him) and a group of scholars hold that whenever his intention is divorce... he intends here between
The questioner : work.
The Shaykh : and whenever his intention is to prevent her from working and to emphasize it to her and threaten her with divorce, then the divorce does not take effect, and he owes the expiation of an oath.
The questioner : The expiation, O Shaykh Muhammad.
The Shaykh : If he does not find [the means for expiation], he fasts three consecutive days.
The questioner : Her work, I mean, comes at the expense of my work and the work of the house and caring for the children.
The Shaykh : Yes, do not let her work.
The questioner : And at the same time, you do not want her to participate in the household expenses at all.
The Shaykh : Look, may Allah bless you. Prevent her from working as long as the house needs her, and you are provided for by Allah, and you are able to spend on her.
The questioner : By Allah, I mean, honestly, I need her work, but she does not want to participate in the house or in the household expenses in any way.
The Shaykh : So what is the benefit of her work? What is the benefit of her work if she does not participate in the expenses and does not care for her children?
The questioner : I mean, all my salary, for example, is one thousand riyals. The entire salary is housing allowance and everything.
The Shaykh : In any case, as I told you, prevent her as long as the house needs her to care for her children and the affairs of the house. Yes.
The presenter : Yes, may Allah reward you.
The questioner : What Allah willed.
The Shaykh : Until I have been of some benefit to you.
The questioner : Yes, yes.
Source
قناة «فضيلة الشيخ محمد بن صالح العثيمين»، 2117- حكم من اقسم على زوجته/سؤال على الهاتف 📞 /ابن عثيمين — youtube.com
The Arabic text is a machine transcription of the audio recording.