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Does a triple divorce befall the wife if she opens her husband's computer, knowing that the husband swore by divorce if she did so, and she had forgotten his oath, and she had previously opened his mobile phone with his permission, and she did that five times for verification and repair?

1 min readAlso available in العربية

The majority of scholars hold that a divorce oath results in divorce if the condition is met, and that uttering "divorce" three times constitutes three divorces. This is the established ruling (fatwa). This differs from the view of Ibn Taymiyyah, who held that a divorce oath not intended to effect divorce but rather for threat or emphasis, is treated like an oath by Allah, requiring an expiation for an oath (kaffarat yamin) and not resulting in divorce. He also held that uttering "divorce" three times constitutes a single divorce.

Therefore, if the husband's mobile phone or computer is accessed in the future without his knowledge, it will result in three divorces. However, mere suspicion of having accessed the phone does not result in divorce, as divorce does not occur with doubt.

It should be noted that spying on one's spouse or others is forbidden and impermissible, except to prevent an evil when clear suspicion arises.

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

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