Does divorce occur with the pronouncement "you are divorced" and "divorced by three" to a wife who refused to return to her home and children after divorce was sworn upon her to leave work, when the aim of uttering the divorce was to frighten her and compel her to return to care for her sick children?

The majority of scholars hold that if a man conditions his wife's divorce on an action or inaction, and that condition is met, then the wife is divorced, even if he intended only to threaten her. This is the view of the Four Imams. Sheikh al-Islam Ibn Taymiyyah disagreed, holding that divorce does not occur if it was intended as a threat, and its ruling is that of an oath.

Given what you mentioned, that you swore to divorce your wife by triple talaq if she did not return, and she did not return, then she is irrevocably divorced from you by triple talaq, according to our fatwa.

Your wife was wrong in what she did, insisting on working without your consent and leaving the house without your permission. She must repent.

We have issued this fatwa assuming that you did not break the first divorce oath, or that the triple divorce condition occurred during her waiting period (iddah). However, if the oath was broken and the waiting period expired before the triple divorce condition was made, then she would have already been irrevocably divorced from you, and thus, the triple divorce condition would not be effective. If the divorce was not completed to three, you can marry her again with a new contract, provided she consents and all conditions for marriage are met.