The Ruling on Swearing by Divorce
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If there was a quarrel between a man and his wife and he said to her: I said, “I am divorcing you, I will certainly do such and such,” whether it was one divorce or three; what is the ruling?
First: I advise husbands in general not to be lax with the wording of divorce and not to rush into it.And I say: If a man says to his wife, “If you do such and such, you are divorced,” or “I am divorcing you if you do such and such,” and then she disobeys, the majority of scholars hold that she is divorced in any case.And they say: This is because he used the explicit wording of divorce, so the divorce must take effect, just as if he had not made it conditional.And it is known that if a person says to his wife: “You are divorced,” in which case she is divorced.But if it is conditional, by saying: “If you do such and such, you are divorced,” or “If you do not do such and such, you are divorced.”The majority of scholars said: The conditional divorce is like the immediate divorce, and if she disobeys her husband in this matter, she is divorced in any case.
Therefore, this issue is serious and not trivial. However, Shaykh al-Islam Ibn Taymiyyah (may Allah have mercy on him) held that if he intended by it to urge or prevent, its ruling is the ruling of an oath.Meaning: The wife is not divorced, and he expiates the oath.If he says to his wife: “If you do such and such, you are divorced.” If she does it, according to the opinion of the majority of scholars, she is divorced.And according to the opinion of Shaykh al-Islam, we ask the man and say: Did you intend that if the wife does this, she would be divorced?If he says: Yes.
In that case, she is divorced.And when he said: No.
And if I only intended to emphasize the prohibition of this thing and threaten her with divorce, we say: Then your divorce is in the ruling of an oath, so you expiate the oath and the divorce does not take effect. By this, you have realized the seriousness of this issue and that it is not a trivial matter. We ask Allah for guidance for everyone.
First: I advise husbands in general not to be lax with the wording of divorce and not to rush into it.And I say: If a man says to his wife, “If you do such and such, you are divorced,” or “I am divorcing you if you do such and such,” and then she disobeys, the majority of scholars hold that she is divorced in any case.And they say: This is because he used the explicit wording of divorce, so the divorce must take effect, just as if he had not made it conditional.And it is known that if a person says to his wife: “You are divorced,” in which case she is divorced.But if it is conditional, by saying: “If you do such and such, you are divorced,” or “If you do not do such and such, you are divorced.”The majority of scholars said: The conditional divorce is like the immediate divorce, and if she disobeys her husband in this matter, she is divorced in any case.
Therefore, this issue is serious and not trivial. However, Shaykh al-Islam Ibn Taymiyyah (may Allah have mercy on him) held that if he intended by it to urge or prevent, its ruling is the ruling of an oath.Meaning: The wife is not divorced, and he expiates the oath.If he says to his wife: “If you do such and such, you are divorced.” If she does it, according to the opinion of the majority of scholars, she is divorced.And according to the opinion of Shaykh al-Islam, we ask the man and say: Did you intend that if the wife does this, she would be divorced?If he says: Yes.
In that case, she is divorced.And when he said: No.
And if I only intended to emphasize the prohibition of this thing and threaten her with divorce, we say: Then your divorce is in the ruling of an oath, so you expiate the oath and the divorce does not take effect. By this, you have realized the seriousness of this issue and that it is not a trivial matter. We ask Allah for guidance for everyone.