What is the ruling on a man who said to his wife, who had advised him to quit smoking, “You are divorced if I return to smoking,” and then he did return to it?
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The questioner : May Allah reward you. A man smokes, and his wife advised him to stop. He said to her: “You are divorced if I return to this smoking.”
He left it temporarily, then returned to it, then repented again. What is the ruling on his divorce?
The Shaykh : And he continued in his repentance?
The questioner : Yes, the other one.
The Shaykh : Yes, he did not contradict it.
The questioner : Yes, he continued.
The Shaykh : He owes nothing but the expiation for an oath. He must feed ten poor people. This is because his statement, “If I return, you are divorced,” was said only to escape parting with his wife so that she would not leave him. His intention was not to part with his wife. Therefore, we say: As long as you intended to affirm your abstention from it, and then you returned to it, you owe nothing but the expiation for an oath.
He left it temporarily, then returned to it, then repented again. What is the ruling on his divorce?
The Shaykh : And he continued in his repentance?
The questioner : Yes, the other one.
The Shaykh : Yes, he did not contradict it.
The questioner : Yes, he continued.
The Shaykh : He owes nothing but the expiation for an oath. He must feed ten poor people. This is because his statement, “If I return, you are divorced,” was said only to escape parting with his wife so that she would not leave him. His intention was not to part with his wife. Therefore, we say: As long as you intended to affirm your abstention from it, and then you returned to it, you owe nothing but the expiation for an oath.