Does a divorce take place if a husband, jokingly, tells his wife, "If you cross this line drawn on the ground, you will be divorced," and the wife crosses it, unaware of the suspended divorce?

Divorce pronounced in jest is binding. The majority of scholars hold that a conditional divorce takes effect if the condition upon which it was made is met. Therefore, if the wife heard her divorce being conditioned on crossing a drawn line, and she subsequently crossed it, the divorce takes effect. If this was the first or second divorce, he may take her back as long as she is within her waiting period (iddah).

However, if the wife did not hear this condition being made, scholars have differed on whether the divorce takes effect in such a case. Some meticulous scholars have favored the view that it does not take effect, and this is the madhhab of Imam Shafii, one narration from Imam Ahmad, and the choice of Ibn Taymiyyah and Ibn al-Qayyim. Therefore, it is advisable to present the matter to a Sharia court or to trustworthy scholars.