What is the ruling on swearing an oath of divorce against one's wife?

The questioner : The questioner asks: What is the ruling in Islam regarding a man who breaks his oath against his wife with divorce while he is in a state of anger?

The Shaykh : Swearing an oath of divorce, unfortunately, has become extremely widespread among people to a shocking degree. In reality, this is a well-known point of disagreement. The Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) said: There is no awareness in swearing an oath of divorce, nor in love, nor in endowment, nor in anything else except by Allah (Mighty and Majestic) or by one of His attributes. But people have started imitating one another, and they swear by divorce sometimes, and they swear by prohibition sometimes, but they err in doing so. If a man swears an oath of divorce against his wife, there are three scenarios. The first scenario is that he swears on himself, meaning on his own action, such as saying, "I swear by divorce that I will not do such-and-such."
The second scenario is that he swears on someone other than his wife, not on his wife, but on someone else, not on his wife, such as saying to so-and-so, "If you do this, my wife is divorced."
The third scenario is that he swears on his wife, saying to her, "If you do such-and-such, you are divorced." These are the three scenarios that we must distinguish. The first is that he swears on his own action. The second is that he swears on the action of someone else, not on his wife. The third is that he swears on his wife.
If he swears on himself and says, "I swear by divorce that I will not do such-and-such," and he does not do it, the majority of scholars hold that if he does not do it, his wife is divorced. Among them, some hold that she is divorced three times, some hold that she is divorced once, and some hold that it depends on his intention, either once or three times, based on whether the word "divorce" refers to the generic concept or to the specific instance. This is if he swears on himself; the majority of scholars hold that his wife is divorced if he violates what he swore to.
The second scenario is if he swears on someone other than his wife, saying, "If you, O man, do this, my wife is divorced." The majority of scholars also hold that his wife is divorced if he violates what he swore to, and that if the divorce is three, it is three, or if it is the last of three, it is three.
However, the correct view in this issue is that the wife is not divorced if it is merely a new oath and he did not intend divorce. The correct view in these two scenarios is that the swearer intends the oath and does not intend divorce, because the wife has no connection to this at all. The correct view in this issue is that if a man says, "I swear by divorce that I will not do such-and-such," and he does it, or "I swear by divorce that I will do such-and-such," and he does not do it, his wife is not divorced, but he must expiate the oath of a yamin (oath).
The third scenario is if he swears on his wife, saying, "If you do such-and-such, you are divorced." In that case, he is asked: Do you intend divorce, or do you intend an oath? What is the difference between intending divorce and intending an oath?
We tell him: If you intend that if your wife disobeys you, you are no longer pleased with her and you do not want her as your wife, then you have intended divorce, and if she disobeys you, the divorce takes effect on you. But if you say, "I love my wife and I want her even if she disobeys me, but I want to warn her and I want to emphasize this to her," then we say: If she disobeys you, she is not divorced, and you must expiate the oath of a yamin. This statement is the fourth of the opinions of the scholars, and it is the choice of Shaykh al-Islam Ibn Taymiyyah (may Allah have mercy on him), and it is what we issue as a fatwa, and we ask Allah the Exalted to make us successful in it.