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Does divorce take effect when a person pronounces it in the imperative form in their imagination, or in the present tense when trying to recall what happened? And does divorce take effect by moving the tongue with it without hearing oneself, taking into consideration that the tongue had moved to the articulation point of the letter "taa’"?

1 min readAlso available in العربية

The pronouncement of divorce by a person afflicted with obsessive compulsive disorder (waswasah) does not take effect, even if he utters it explicitly and addresses his wife with it. This is because he is overcome by his condition. Allah Almighty says: "And there is no blame upon you for that in which you have erred, but [there is blame for] what your hearts have intended." Strive to treat the obsession, and the movement of the tongue with speech without a person hearing himself is not unusual.

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

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