The man saying: "I swear by divorce that I will do such and such": Is it an oath or a divorce, and what are the consequences of this phrase?

Abu Malik: He wants the details, brother.The questioner : Regarding the man saying, "I swear by divorce that I will do such and such," is it a divorce or an oath, and what are the consequences of this phrase that the man says to his wife?

The Shaykh : The stronger opinion among the scholars is that swearing by divorce is not a divorce, because it is intended only for what is intended by an oath, or first, and then what is intended by a vow. If a person says, "I must fast one day in every month, or more, or less, it does not matter," and then for one reason or another he decides to be released from this vow, his expiation is the expiation of an oath. So if he says, "I must slaughter such and such, or fast such and such, or give such and such in charity," this is a vow. And this is an authentic hadith . Likewise, the man who swears by divorce, if he swears by divorce and means what he means by swearing by Allah Mighty and Majestic, and then he does not divorce, and praise be to Allah, then he only has to make expiation, and there is no divorce. This is because divorce has conditions specified in the Islamic Shari'ah, and these conditions are among the merits of the lawful divorce. Unfortunately, most of these conditions have been neglected and not acted upon, so the Islamic system of divorce has become a harm and a disgrace, whereas it is a system for solving a problem that may be difficult to handle between the husband and wife, first, and then between the arbitrators, second. Divorce was legislated to solve the existing problem between the husband and wife for which there is no way to find a solution. As for a man who swears by divorce and it is not in his mind or thoughts, or even if it were in his mind, but he did not resolve to divorce, and rather he swore intending by his oath what is usually intended by an oath—he swore over his wife that she not do such and such, meaning he does not want her to do this thing, or he swore over her that she do such and such, meaning he wants to force her to do such and such, but she did not do it—then he has broken his oath by divorce. So when he breaks his oath by divorce, the expiation of the oath falls upon him. Here is a question that people usually raise, which today is expressed as a self-raising question, a modern expression; what we knew in the past is the intended meaning, which we all know, and it is the saying of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him): . And the other hadith: . So why do you consider this oath by divorce to be an oath, and then obligate the expiation upon it as the expiation of an oath by Allah Mighty and Majestic? This is a question that, in truth, is often raised, and its answer is that swearing by abstract concepts does not fall under the prohibition mentioned in those two hadiths , which refers to entities. However, if he swears by a concept, this does not become shirk (associating partners with Allah), because this concept has not been worshipped, and it appears that it will not be worshipped in the entire world—that a concept existing in the mind has been worshipped besides Allah Blessed and Exalted is He. Rather, the things that were worshipped are bodies, substances existing in themselves, which may be humans, may be the moon, may be the sun, and so on. For this reason, some of the precise scholars, led by Shaykh al-Islam Ibn Taymiyyah (may Allah have mercy on him), held first that swearing by divorce is not a divorce, and second that he must pay the expiation of the oath, because he intended by it what is intended by an oath, and because it is not shirk (associating partners with Allah) with Allah Mighty and Majestic. This is the answer to the question related to what preceded.