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Must someone who swore by triple divorce -in a moment of anger and without intention of divorce- not return to his job, or is he bound by an expiation for breaking an oath?

1 min readAlso available in العربية

If you uttered a 'oath of anger' without realizing what you were saying, it is considered a 'laghw' (idle talk) for which nothing is binding upon you. However, if you were aware of what you were saying, and you broke that oath, your wife would be divorced thrice, according to the majority of scholars. Some scholars, like Ibn Taymiyyah, hold the view that if you did not intend divorce but merely threat, then no divorce occurs; rather, an expiation for an oath (kaffarat yamin) becomes binding upon you. The fatwa adopted by us is the opinion of the majority of scholars. Based on this, you are not obligated to leave your job. However, according to the fatwa adopted by us, if you return to work, your wife will be divorced thrice and will become irrevocably separated from you (baynunah kubra). According to Ibn Taymiyyah's view, an expiation for an oath becomes binding upon you. We also draw attention to the fact that the permissible oath is to swear by Allah the Almighty, whereas swearing by divorce is considered an oath of the wicked.

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

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