A wife did something that displeased her husband, so he swore four divorces upon her that if she repeated this act, he would beat her severely; then she did it while forgetful. What is the ruling?

The questioner : This questioner, Abdullah A.M.A., is Egyptian and works in Iraq. He says his question consists of three paragraphs regarding divorce. He says: My wife did something that did not please me, to the extent that I became very angry with her and swore four divorces upon her that if this act were repeated, I would beat her severely. After that, we reconciled and she kept her oath. Then she became negligent again, which she says was due to forgetfulness. What is the ruling in this?

The Shaykh : We say that a person should not, if he wants to emphasize something, emphasize it with divorce.

The questioner : Yes.

The Shaykh : Because that is the meaning of an oath. And the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: So if you want to emphasize something, emphasize it with an oath by Allah (Glorified and Exalted is He), not with divorce. This is because emphasizing with divorce is contrary to what is prescribed, and because emphasizing with divorce is seen by many scholars, or most scholars, as establishing the ruling of divorce rather than the ruling of an oath. Thus, a person is taking a risk if he swears by divorce that his wife will do something or not do it. As for what happened to this man, where he swore by divorce four times that if his wife did this thing, he would beat her severely, he has no right to beat her severely. Rather, if she does what necessitates beating, he beats her with a non-harmful beating. Therefore, when she returned to doing this thing, he should not beat her with that severe beating he swore by divorce to do. Rather, he expiates for his oath of divorce. He expiates with the expiation of an oath. The expiation of an oath, as Allah (Mighty and Majestic) mentioned, is feeding ten poor people, or clothing them, or freeing a slave. Whoever does not find [the means] fasts for three days. Feeding the ten poor people has two aspects. The first aspect is that he prepares a lunch or dinner and invites ten poor people to eat.
The second aspect is that he feeds them something uncooked, and the amount is six kilograms of rice, which he gives to the ten.

The questioner : Yes.

The Shaykh : And if it happens that he adds some food with it, such as meat or otherwise, that is more complete and better.

The questioner : Yes.