What is the ruling on one who swears by divorce without intending to effect it
Machine translationRead the Arabic original
Question: Q: The brother whose name is indicated by the initials: A. B. B. from (Afiyah) in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, says in his question: A disagreement occurred between me and one of my friends, so I swore by divorce that I would cut ties with him and not enter his house, by saying several times: “Divorce is upon me,” and “My wife is divorced,” and “It is forbidden to me, just as my sister is forbidden to me,” to cut ties with him and not enter his house from now on. I repeated this statement, and my intention was not to separate from my wife or divorce her, but rather to prevent myself from entering his house, and to make entering his house impossible for me. After time passed, the disagreement between us was resolved, and I wished for the severance between us to be removed, and I regretted my haste. Is there a way to expiate the oath that came from me, and for affection to return between me and my friend without the oath of divorce falling on my wife? Please issue a ruling, may you be rewarded, may Allah reward you with good.
Answer: If by the divorce mentioned you only intended to refrain, and you did not intend to make it forbidden or effect the divorce if you entered your friend’s house or stopped cutting ties with him, then an oath expiation is sufficient for you from that, which is feeding ten poor people, or clothing them, or freeing a slave. If you cannot do that, then fasting for three days—in the most correct of the scholars’ opinions—and no divorce or prohibition falls on your wife if you maintain ties with him or enter his house. This is the opinion of a group of the people of knowledge, and the choice of Shaykh al-Islam Ibn Taymiyyah (may Allah have mercy on him).
And if you expiate with the expiation for zihar, that is more cautious; acting in accordance with the generality of the evidence for the prohibition of zihar; because you explicitly stated that your wife is forbidden to you like your sister. And Allah is the bestower of success.
Answer: If by the divorce mentioned you only intended to refrain, and you did not intend to make it forbidden or effect the divorce if you entered your friend’s house or stopped cutting ties with him, then an oath expiation is sufficient for you from that, which is feeding ten poor people, or clothing them, or freeing a slave. If you cannot do that, then fasting for three days—in the most correct of the scholars’ opinions—and no divorce or prohibition falls on your wife if you maintain ties with him or enter his house. This is the opinion of a group of the people of knowledge, and the choice of Shaykh al-Islam Ibn Taymiyyah (may Allah have mercy on him).
And if you expiate with the expiation for zihar, that is more cautious; acting in accordance with the generality of the evidence for the prohibition of zihar; because you explicitly stated that your wife is forbidden to you like your sister. And Allah is the bestower of success.
Source
binbaz.org.sa
The Arabic text is copied verbatim from the original source, without any edits.