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Does a divorce oath, made based on a mistaken belief that was later proven incorrect, take effect?

1 min readAlso available in العربية

If someone swears by divorce, zhihar, haram, or a vow regarding something they believe to be true, and then it turns out to be false, there are three opinions among scholars: 1. They are considered to have broken their oath (the view of Abu Hanifa and Malik, one of the two views of Al-Shafi'i, and one of the narrations from Ahmad). 2. They are not considered to have broken their oath (the other view of Al-Shafi'i and the second narration from Ahmad). 3. A distinction is made between swearing by divorce and manumission and other forms of oaths (the third narration from Ahmad and the choice of Al-Qadi, Al-Khiraqi, and Al-Qaffal).

The preponderant view is that they are not considered to have broken their oath, and the divorce does not occur. This is the choice of Sheikh Al-Islam Ibn Taymiyyah.

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

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