What is the ruling on penetration anywhere other than the vagina and the rest of the body—excluding the anus—if a man swears by divorce, intending divorce, not to have sexual intercourse with his wife?
If a man swears to abstain from sexual intercourse with his wife, he does not break his oath by engaging in foreplay, but only by actual intercourse. However, if a man swears by divorce to abstain from sexual intercourse with his wife for more than four months, he is considered a muli (one who makes an 'ila' oath) according to the majority of scholars. If the wife is not content, the judge sets the term of the ila (four months). During this period, either he has intercourse with her, in which case the suspended divorce occurs, with the obligation to intend her return, or he continues to abstain from intercourse until the period expires, and she is divorced from him by virtue of the ila. This applies if the suspended divorce is the first or second. However, if it is the third, the divorce is expedited, and he is not allowed to have intercourse with her. All of this is contingent upon the wife not waiving her right to intercourse; if she waives it, she is not divorced from him.
Summarized from the full answer at Ftawy · reviewed Sep 2, 2026
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