Does divorce take place if one swears an oath of divorce in private and no one hears it?
Machine translationRead the Arabic original
The questioner:
In his second question, he says: If I swore an oath of divorce and my wife did not hear it, does the divorce take effect for her?
The Shaykh:
Yes, if you truly uttered the words of divorce, it takes effect, whether someone heard it or not, whether it was your wife or someone else. The important thing is that you uttered the divorce. So if you uttered it, it takes effect. Yes.
The questioner:
Even if his intention was an oath, as indicated by his use of the word "swore."
The Shaykh:
We do not know the formula of the oath he intends. Yes.
In his second question, he says: If I swore an oath of divorce and my wife did not hear it, does the divorce take effect for her?
The Shaykh:
Yes, if you truly uttered the words of divorce, it takes effect, whether someone heard it or not, whether it was your wife or someone else. The important thing is that you uttered the divorce. So if you uttered it, it takes effect. Yes.
The questioner:
Even if his intention was an oath, as indicated by his use of the word "swore."
The Shaykh:
We do not know the formula of the oath he intends. Yes.
Source
قناة «العلامة الدكتور صالح الفوزان»، 5141- هل يقع الطلاق إذا حلف به خاليا ولم يسمعه أحد؟ - الشيخ صالح الفوزان — youtube.com
The Arabic text is a machine transcription of the audio recording.