Does a husband's divorce take effect if he tells his wife, "By divorce, not now and not at any other time," when she refused intercourse due to the presence of the children?
Many scholars consider an oath of divorce to abstain from sexual intercourse as ila' (a vow of abstinence), and this is the view of the majority of jurists. If a husband makes such an oath and then has intercourse with his wife, he must offer an expiation for a broken oath (kaffarat yameen). Some scholars, however, are of the opinion that ila' is exclusively tied to swearing by Allah Almighty. Therefore, if one swears by divorce and then has intercourse, divorce occurs. Sheikh al-Islam Ibn Taymiyyah held the view that an oath of divorce not intended to effect divorce is treated like an ordinary oath; if the condition of the oath is met, the one who swore it must offer an expiation for a broken oath, and no divorce takes place. The preferable course of action in such matters is to present them before a court.
Summary from Ftawy's records · added here
Reviewed by El Fatwa's sharia committee.
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