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What is the ruling on breaking the oath "By divorce, I will not follow the Egyptian elections" after waking up, and does this include following the presidential elections, or hearing their news unintentionally, or hearing the names of the representatives and the president? And what is the ruling on the period the questioner spent in bed without being aware of the content of the election program?

1 min readAlso available in العربية

If what you uttered regarding divorce was due to waswasah (obsessive whispering/doubts), then nothing is incumbent upon you, as the divorce of one afflicted by waswasah due to waswasah is not effective. However, if you verbally pronounced an oath of divorce or made it contingent upon an matter, being fully aware and choosing to do so, then the majority of scholars hold that divorce occurs upon breaking the oath, and this is the fatwa we follow. This differs from the view of Ibn Taymiyyah, who considers it to be the ruling of an oath (yameen) and thus requires an expiation for an oath (kaffarat yameen). The reference point for determining what you swore upon is your intention and purpose. It is advisable to present the matter to trustworthy scholars. You must turn away from waswasah, seek help from Allah, and supplicate frequently to be rid of it.

Summarized from the full answer at Ftawy · reviewed Sep 2, 2026

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