If we say that a man’s statement to his wife, “If you do such-and-such, you are divorced,” and his statement, “I am under the obligation of divorce,” is an oath, what is the basis for calling it an oath?
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The questioner : Regarding the position of Shaykh al-Islam Ibn Taymiyyah
The Shaykh : how
The questioner : Shaykh al-Islam Ibn Taymiyyah (may Allah have mercy on him) holds that a man’s statement to his wife, “If you do such-and-such, you are divorced,” is an oath, as is his statement, “I am under the obligation of divorce,” and similar formulations.
The Shaykh : Yes, that is right.
The questioner : What is the basis for calling this formulation an oath, given that it does not contain an oath-taking, but is merely conditional?
The Shaykh : Yes, what I see is that Shaykh al-Islam treated this conditional or suspended divorce as a matter of intention, because the one who pronounces a divorce conditional on a condition intends by this divorce to intend an oath of divorce, which is to prevent himself from doing a certain act or to compel himself to do a certain act. This issue actually returns to what we mentioned earlier regarding his (peace and blessings be upon him) saying:Sahih al-Bukhari 1 Therefore, out of my consideration for intention in such a divorce that is conditional or suspended on a condition, I say that not every divorce suspended on a condition can be treated as an oath of divorce, because we can imagine in some situations that when a man pronounces a divorce suspended on a condition, he means the actual occurrence of the divorce... There is a great difference between the one who says to his wife, “If, for example, you bring your brother, your father, or one of your relatives into your house, you are divorced.” Here, we can clearly imagine that he does not intend the divorce, but intends by it to prevent this woman from doing an action he does not approve of. So this is a divorce like an oath of divorce, because the intention is to prevent the wife from doing a certain act. The scenarios can, of course, be enumerated and depicted in various ways. What concerns us now is the opposite scenario to this, which can be attributed to divorce rather than to an oath of divorce. For example, a man saw his wife one day, God forbid, in a suspicious and strange situation, and he said to her, “If I see you again talking to your neighbor or so-and-so, you are divorced.” Here, we can imagine that he does not intend merely the woman, but because the matter concerns honor, if he actually sees her fall into the same prohibition again, then at that time we can imagine that he meant the divorce and not merely preventing the woman from falling into such a violation, because here the intention was the intention of divorce, not the intention of an oath of divorce or a lawful oath, which is one of the names of Allah (Blessed and Exalted is He).
The phone rang.
The Shaykh : Yes
The questioner : Peace be upon you.
The Shaykh : And upon you peace and the mercy of Allah
The questioner : How are you, my Shaykh?
The Shaykh : I praise Allah. How are you?
The questioner : Praise be to Allah. How...
The Shaykh : Praise be to Allah, I am well
The questioner : Some of the young men have resolved to go on a trip one hour before Fajr, and it is known that this causes them to miss the congregation and this causes them to miss the ghusl, with the understanding that ghusl is obligatory.
The Shaykh : Yes
The questioner : So what is your opinion if this going out is travel, and we do not call it travel, what do you say?
The Shaykh : I say there is no harm in traveling before the adhan of Jumu'ah, as is well known. They may depart as long as their trip is permissible and prescribed. However, we do not allow them to not perform ghusl absolutely. Rather, we say if they go out before Fajr and it does not become easy for them to perform the ghusl of Jumu'ah, there is no harm in that, because the command is lifted in cases of hardship, as is well known from the principles of the Shari'ah. We do not tell them not to perform ghusl absolutely just because they left their houses, for example, before traveling. Rather, we tell them if it does not become easy for them to perform ghusl, there is no harm in that, because the hardship is lifted.
The questioner : Oh Shaykh, did you notice it is not travel.
The Shaykh : I am not speaking about travel.
The questioner : Yes, yes, I am saying...
The Shaykh : And the word travel did not come in my speech. Yes, that is right.
The questioner : Yes, I was afraid that I did not hear you...
The Shaykh : No, I heard you and understood you, and may Allah reward you with good.
The questioner : ... it is not travel
The Shaykh : Yes, yes.
The questioner : May Allah reward you with good.
The Shaykh : And you likewise
The questioner : ... .
The Shaykh : Welcome.
The questioner : Peace be upon you.
The Shaykh : And upon you be peace and the mercy of Allah and His blessings. This is what I understand from the words of Ibn Taymiyyah: that he considers the intention in a divorce suspended on a condition. If his intention in that is what is intended by an oath of divorce, then its ruling is the ruling of an oath; otherwise, it is not. Is that clear, if Allah wills?
The questioner : It is clear, my Shaykh, but the oath, did he swear by the divorce?
The Shaykh : Yes
The questioner : He did not swear by the divorce, but he swore... there is no oath in this wording. He said, “If you do such-and-such, you are divorced.” Even if he intended the divorce, there is no oath in it?
The Shaykh : I did not say he swore by the divorce. I only said what is intended by the divorce.
The questioner : And the vow upon me, is it not a vow?
The Shaykh : How?
The questioner : His statement, “I am under the obligation of divorce,” is it not a vow?
The Shaykh : Yes.
The questioner : And the vow is expiated with the expiation of an oath?
The Shaykh : Yes, exactly.
The Shaykh : how
The questioner : Shaykh al-Islam Ibn Taymiyyah (may Allah have mercy on him) holds that a man’s statement to his wife, “If you do such-and-such, you are divorced,” is an oath, as is his statement, “I am under the obligation of divorce,” and similar formulations.
The Shaykh : Yes, that is right.
The questioner : What is the basis for calling this formulation an oath, given that it does not contain an oath-taking, but is merely conditional?
The Shaykh : Yes, what I see is that Shaykh al-Islam treated this conditional or suspended divorce as a matter of intention, because the one who pronounces a divorce conditional on a condition intends by this divorce to intend an oath of divorce, which is to prevent himself from doing a certain act or to compel himself to do a certain act. This issue actually returns to what we mentioned earlier regarding his (peace and blessings be upon him) saying:
The reward of deeds depends upon the intentions and every person will get the reward according to what he has intended.
إنما الأعمال بالنيات وإنما لكل امرئ ما نوىThe phone rang.
The Shaykh : Yes
The questioner : Peace be upon you.
The Shaykh : And upon you peace and the mercy of Allah
The questioner : How are you, my Shaykh?
The Shaykh : I praise Allah. How are you?
The questioner : Praise be to Allah. How...
The Shaykh : Praise be to Allah, I am well
The questioner : Some of the young men have resolved to go on a trip one hour before Fajr, and it is known that this causes them to miss the congregation and this causes them to miss the ghusl, with the understanding that ghusl is obligatory.
The Shaykh : Yes
The questioner : So what is your opinion if this going out is travel, and we do not call it travel, what do you say?
The Shaykh : I say there is no harm in traveling before the adhan of Jumu'ah, as is well known. They may depart as long as their trip is permissible and prescribed. However, we do not allow them to not perform ghusl absolutely. Rather, we say if they go out before Fajr and it does not become easy for them to perform the ghusl of Jumu'ah, there is no harm in that, because the command is lifted in cases of hardship, as is well known from the principles of the Shari'ah. We do not tell them not to perform ghusl absolutely just because they left their houses, for example, before traveling. Rather, we tell them if it does not become easy for them to perform ghusl, there is no harm in that, because the hardship is lifted.
The questioner : Oh Shaykh, did you notice it is not travel.
The Shaykh : I am not speaking about travel.
The questioner : Yes, yes, I am saying...
The Shaykh : And the word travel did not come in my speech. Yes, that is right.
The questioner : Yes, I was afraid that I did not hear you...
The Shaykh : No, I heard you and understood you, and may Allah reward you with good.
The questioner : ... it is not travel
The Shaykh : Yes, yes.
The questioner : May Allah reward you with good.
The Shaykh : And you likewise
The questioner : ... .
The Shaykh : Welcome.
The questioner : Peace be upon you.
The Shaykh : And upon you be peace and the mercy of Allah and His blessings. This is what I understand from the words of Ibn Taymiyyah: that he considers the intention in a divorce suspended on a condition. If his intention in that is what is intended by an oath of divorce, then its ruling is the ruling of an oath; otherwise, it is not. Is that clear, if Allah wills?
The questioner : It is clear, my Shaykh, but the oath, did he swear by the divorce?
The Shaykh : Yes
The questioner : He did not swear by the divorce, but he swore... there is no oath in this wording. He said, “If you do such-and-such, you are divorced.” Even if he intended the divorce, there is no oath in it?
The Shaykh : I did not say he swore by the divorce. I only said what is intended by the divorce.
The questioner : And the vow upon me, is it not a vow?
The Shaykh : How?
The questioner : His statement, “I am under the obligation of divorce,” is it not a vow?
The Shaykh : Yes.
The questioner : And the vow is expiated with the expiation of an oath?
The Shaykh : Yes, exactly.