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What is the ruling on one who swore an oath of triple divorce upon his wife if she did not go to his house on Saturday and spend the night there, and she did not do so due to her family's refusal, then she returned to his house several days later? And has the divorce occurred?

1 min readAlso available in العربية

Your statement to your wife: "If you do not go to my house on Saturday and spend the night there, you will be divorced by three [irrevocable divorce]" has two possibilities:

1. If you intended it as a threat and did not intend to suspend the divorce, then this is a promise of divorce that does not result in anything unless you carry it out. 2. If you intended to suspend the divorce on her not going, then the majority of scholars believe that a triple divorce occurs, whether you intended to effect it or to threaten. However, Shaykh al-Islam Ibn Taymiyyah holds that an expiation for an oath (kaffarat yamin) is required if the husband did not intend divorce, and that only one divorce occurs in the case of a triple divorce.

Our fatwa (religious ruling) here is in accordance with the opinion of the majority of scholars in both matters, which is that a triple divorce occurs if the wife does not adhere to the specified time.

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

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