The Ruling on Swearing an Oath of Divorce Conditioned on an Action Without Fulfilling It
Machine translationRead the Arabic original
السؤال:
A message was received by the program from listener (A. Y. A.), an Egyptian resident in Riyadh. Our brother’s message is somewhat lengthy; he says in it: Due to certain circumstances, my wife and I, along with our children, are staying at my parents’ house. A disagreement occurred in the house, and as a result, I swore an oath of divorce against my wife, stipulating that she not stay overnight at my parents’ house, with the intention of taking her to her father’s house. However, my wife fell to the ground, losing her speech and ability to move. I carried her and took her to a doctor that same day and brought her medication. I felt unable to carry out my oath; and out of fear that the oath would be fulfilled, I carried her. Since she was unable to move, I had her stay overnight with one of the neighbors in the same building. So the question is: Does the oath of divorce take effect because of not taking her to her father’s house, or because of carrying her to stay with one of the neighbors? This is because I avoided the oath from taking effect by not having her stay with me in the same room where I reside. I ask for your guidance? If the oath takes effect, is there a way to revoke it or an expiation? How do I revoke the oath, or perform the expiation? Please inform us, may Allah reward you with good.
Answer:
There is a misunderstanding in your question from the beginning. If your intention was that you divorced her on the condition that you would move her to her father’s house, and due to the incident that befell her, you were unable to move her to her father’s house, then this depends on your intention. If your intention with that divorce was to urge yourself to move her to her father’s house and not have her stay overnight at your parents’ house—if this is your intention, that you would move her from your parents’ house to her father’s house to stay with her father that night, and the intention was not to part with her if you did not move her, but rather you wanted to urge yourself to move her to her father’s house because of what happened at your parents’ house—then this has the ruling of an oath, and you owe the expiation for the oath; because you did not fulfill what you swore to.
However, if your intention was to part with her if you did not move her, and in your intention and purpose, if you did not move her to her father’s house that night, then the divorce takes effect on her as one divorce. You have the right to take her back as long as she is in the waiting period, provided you had not divorced her twice before this. If you had not divorced her twice before this divorce, you may take her back, and one divorce takes effect, if you intended to effect the divorce if you did not move her to her father’s house.
So, if the intention was to urge yourself to move her and to be strict with yourself to move her, and the intention was not to part with her if you did not move her, then this has the ruling of an oath. And if you are nearby in Riyadh, it is possible for you to come and we will ask you from the beginning about what you intended and meant by this divorce, and about the details of the situation. We ask Allah for guidance for everyone. Yes.
The presenter : O Allah, amen. May Allah reward you with good.
A message was received by the program from listener (A. Y. A.), an Egyptian resident in Riyadh. Our brother’s message is somewhat lengthy; he says in it: Due to certain circumstances, my wife and I, along with our children, are staying at my parents’ house. A disagreement occurred in the house, and as a result, I swore an oath of divorce against my wife, stipulating that she not stay overnight at my parents’ house, with the intention of taking her to her father’s house. However, my wife fell to the ground, losing her speech and ability to move. I carried her and took her to a doctor that same day and brought her medication. I felt unable to carry out my oath; and out of fear that the oath would be fulfilled, I carried her. Since she was unable to move, I had her stay overnight with one of the neighbors in the same building. So the question is: Does the oath of divorce take effect because of not taking her to her father’s house, or because of carrying her to stay with one of the neighbors? This is because I avoided the oath from taking effect by not having her stay with me in the same room where I reside. I ask for your guidance? If the oath takes effect, is there a way to revoke it or an expiation? How do I revoke the oath, or perform the expiation? Please inform us, may Allah reward you with good.
Answer:
There is a misunderstanding in your question from the beginning. If your intention was that you divorced her on the condition that you would move her to her father’s house, and due to the incident that befell her, you were unable to move her to her father’s house, then this depends on your intention. If your intention with that divorce was to urge yourself to move her to her father’s house and not have her stay overnight at your parents’ house—if this is your intention, that you would move her from your parents’ house to her father’s house to stay with her father that night, and the intention was not to part with her if you did not move her, but rather you wanted to urge yourself to move her to her father’s house because of what happened at your parents’ house—then this has the ruling of an oath, and you owe the expiation for the oath; because you did not fulfill what you swore to.
However, if your intention was to part with her if you did not move her, and in your intention and purpose, if you did not move her to her father’s house that night, then the divorce takes effect on her as one divorce. You have the right to take her back as long as she is in the waiting period, provided you had not divorced her twice before this. If you had not divorced her twice before this divorce, you may take her back, and one divorce takes effect, if you intended to effect the divorce if you did not move her to her father’s house.
So, if the intention was to urge yourself to move her and to be strict with yourself to move her, and the intention was not to part with her if you did not move her, then this has the ruling of an oath. And if you are nearby in Riyadh, it is possible for you to come and we will ask you from the beginning about what you intended and meant by this divorce, and about the details of the situation. We ask Allah for guidance for everyone. Yes.
The presenter : O Allah, amen. May Allah reward you with good.
Source
binbaz.org.sa
The Arabic text is copied verbatim from the original source, without any edits.