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The question

Is saying "yes" in response to the question "Don't you want your wife?" considered a veiled divorce pronouncement, especially if the speaker suffers from obsessive thoughts of divorce and intended divorce but doesn't know whether his statement causes it or not? And what is the intention required for divorce to occur for someone with obsessive thoughts? And does the divorce of someone with obsessive thoughts occur if he becomes certain of it due to words he uttered?

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Source: FtawySummarized from the full answer at Ftawy · reviewed Sep 2, 20261 min readAlso available in العربية
The answer

The answer requires rephrasing what is in the question. So, if a man is asked: "Do you not want your wife?" and he replies: "Yes," his divorce occurs if he intended it, because the تقدير (implied meaning) of the statement is "Yes, I do not want her." This is one of the ambiguous divorce pronouncements (kinayat al-talaq) by which divorce occurs with the intention. The occurrence of divorce here is conditioned on the presence of a firm intention (niyyah jazimah) along with peace of mind and tranquility. As for the person afflicted with obsessive doubts (al-muswas), his divorce does not occur unless he genuinely intended divorce (qasdan haqiqiyyan) while he was in a state of tranquility and stability. Otherwise, he is considered to be under duress (mukrah).

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

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