Some men swear oaths of divorce, saying for example, “I divorce you if you do such and such.” Is the wife divorced in this case or not?

The questioner : Some men swear oaths of divorce, saying for example, “I divorce you if you do such and such.” Is the wife divorced in this case or not, given that the name or the wife’s name was not mentioned? This is the argument of those who hold this view. We ask for your guidance.

The Shaykh : I say: Swearing an oath of divorce is an innovation and constitutes a violation of the command of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him). The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: If a man says, “I divorce you if I do such and such,” and he does not do it, or if he says to his wife, “If you do not do such and such, you are divorced,” and she does not do it, the majority of scholars hold that the divorce takes effect and that there is no oath in divorce in such a formulation. Some scholars have held that such a formulation can be either a divorce or an oath, depending on the intention of the one pronouncing it. If he says, “I told my wife, ‘If you do such and such, you are divorced,’” meaning that he intended to firmly prohibit it and threaten her with divorce if she did it, and she did it, then in this case we say: You owe the expiation for an oath, which is, by choice, feeding ten poor people, clothing them, or freeing a slave. Whoever cannot find the means to do so must fast for three days. If he says, “I intended a real divorce, and if the woman disobeys me, I no longer have any desire for her,” then it is a conditional divorce; when the condition is met, the divorce takes effect, based on the saying of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him): .

The questioner : May Allah reward you with good.