Back to search

Is there an expiation for the vow "If I watch any foreign films, then my wife is divorced" that would invalidate it, knowing that no films have been watched?

1 min readAlso available in العربية

Whoever makes a covenant with Allah to do something or to refrain from doing something is bound by an expiation for breaking an oath (kaffarat yamin) if he does not fulfill his covenant. However, the breaking of this oath differs depending on the occurrence of the suspended divorce. Those who believe in the occurrence of suspended divorce—and they are the majority—rule that his wife is divorced as soon as he watches the forbidden movies, and he is not required to offer an expiation for breaking an oath. As for Ibn Taymiyyah, if he did not intend divorce, then his wife is not divorced, and he is required to offer an expiation for breaking an oath. It is obligatory to lower one's gaze from forbidden things, and it is not permissible to watch movies that contain what is forbidden to look at.

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

Read the full answer on Ftawy