The Ruling on Swearing an Oath of Divorce
Machine translationRead the Arabic original
The questioner:
Another man says: I once got angry, and I had two wives who were living on the second floor. After I hit them, I told them, “Whoever comes down the stairs is divorced and forbidden to me, just as my mother and my sister are forbidden to me.” I only intended to stop them, and I was very angry. One of them came down the stairs, and the other did not. Does the divorce and the zihar take effect, or not?
The Shaykh:
If you were merely being strict, as you said, to prevent her from coming down by frightening her, and you did not intend to pronounce the divorce, then the correct opinion among the scholars is that there is an expiation for an oath, and the divorce does not take effect according to your intention. This is because the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) said, “Actions are only by intentions, and every person will have what he intended.” So if you said, “Whoever comes down these stairs is divorced” or “forbidden,” and your intention was only to stop her from coming down, and you did not intend to separate from her or to pronounce the divorce, but only intended to frighten her
The questioner:
and prevent her from coming down, then as for the one of them who came down
The Shaykh:
That is a habit.
The presenter:
Amen.
The Shaykh:
Ten poor people, or you clothe ten people, the number of your fingers. Each one gets half a sa' of dates, rice, or the staple food of the country.
The questioner:
Or you delay it.
The Shaykh:
You serve it in your house as cooked, prepared food, or you estimate it. Yes, even if they were two, there would be two expiations? Yes, each person has an expiation.
Another man says: I once got angry, and I had two wives who were living on the second floor. After I hit them, I told them, “Whoever comes down the stairs is divorced and forbidden to me, just as my mother and my sister are forbidden to me.” I only intended to stop them, and I was very angry. One of them came down the stairs, and the other did not. Does the divorce and the zihar take effect, or not?
The Shaykh:
If you were merely being strict, as you said, to prevent her from coming down by frightening her, and you did not intend to pronounce the divorce, then the correct opinion among the scholars is that there is an expiation for an oath, and the divorce does not take effect according to your intention. This is because the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) said, “Actions are only by intentions, and every person will have what he intended.” So if you said, “Whoever comes down these stairs is divorced” or “forbidden,” and your intention was only to stop her from coming down, and you did not intend to separate from her or to pronounce the divorce, but only intended to frighten her
The questioner:
and prevent her from coming down, then as for the one of them who came down
The Shaykh:
That is a habit.
The presenter:
Amen.
The Shaykh:
Ten poor people, or you clothe ten people, the number of your fingers. Each one gets half a sa' of dates, rice, or the staple food of the country.
The questioner:
Or you delay it.
The Shaykh:
You serve it in your house as cooked, prepared food, or you estimate it. Yes, even if they were two, there would be two expiations? Yes, each person has an expiation.
Source
قناة «فضيلة الشيخ ابن باز Alsheikh Binbaz»، حكم الحلف بالطلاق - بن باز - مشروع كبار العلماء — youtube.com
The Arabic text is a machine transcription of the audio recording.