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What is the validity of the fatwa that obliges expiation for an oath of divorce made in a bad psychological state and before consummating the marriage, as opposed to the other fatwa that obligates the occurrence of divorce and thus the necessity of taking back the divorced woman?

1 min readAlso available in العربية

The majority of scholars are of the view that swearing by divorce effects divorce upon breaking the oath. In this case, if the divorce occurs before consummation, the wife becomes irrevocably divorced (ba'inah), and it is not permissible to take her back.

However, Shaykh al-Islam Ibn Taymiyyah and those who followed him hold the view that swearing by divorce is an oath for which expiation for an oath (kaffarat yamin) is required.

The preferred summary in this fatwa is that breaking an oath of divorce is considered a divorce, and therefore, it is not permissible to take the wife back if the divorce occurred before consummation.

However, if you have adopted the fatwa of those who believe that breaking an oath of divorce is an oath for which expiation is required, then you may follow it.

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

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