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Does a divorce take effect on a wife if her husband swore to divorce her by three pronouncements, then retracted the wording of the oath before the specified period for informing elapsed?

1 min readAlso available in العربية

It appears that you made your wife's divorce contingent twice on her informing you of what transpired with your neighbor. The second contingency for divorce did not result in a breach because your wife informed you of the news before the specified time elapsed, so no divorce was incumbent upon you. As for the first contingency, if you did not intend a specific time for the news, then no divorce occurred because she informed you after half an hour. However, if you intended that the divorce would occur if she did not inform you at that exact moment, and she denied it, then a breach occurred, and consequently, a triple divorce takes place according to the majority of scholars. In this case, your wife would be irrevocably divorced from you (baynunah kubra). According to Ibn Taymiyyah, you would be liable for an expiation for breaking an oath (kaffarat yamin) if you did not intend divorce, and a single divorce if you did intend it. The preponderant opinion is that of the majority of scholars.

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

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