Does divorce take place if the husband says to his wife, “If you go, do not come back”?

The questioner : A woman asks: Her husband refuses to let her go to the market and does not bring her her needs. He says, “If you go, do not come back.” The question is: Does the divorce take place if she goes? And what is the solution in such a matter?

The Shaykh : The divorce takes place if the husband intended it. It does not take place if he did not intend it but only meant to threaten her. The common case is that people use this threat, and their wives are precious to them; if they disobeyed him, he would not consider divorcing them. But some people think that if she disobeys him, she is no longer suitable to remain with him, so they divorce her. In that case, we say that actions are by intentions. So, if he intended to threaten and prevent her with this divorce, then if she disobeys him, she is not divorced, but he owes an expiation for an oath: he must feed ten poor people, giving each poor person one kilo, or slightly less, of rice. As for if he intended the divorce, then she is divorced, because actions are by intentions. As for what she should do, since she needs to go out to the market to buy clothes and her husband prevents her? She should remain, she should remain until Allah guides him and allows her to do so. Yes.