Does a divorce take place, or is an expiation for an oath obligatory upon one who swore to his wife that he would not have relations with her, and then had relations with her out of necessity, citing the hadith: "Whoever swears an oath to do something, then finds something better than it, should do that which is better and expiate his oath"?

If a man swears an oath by divorce, it is subject to the ruling of conditional divorce. If he breaks his oath, the divorce occurs according to the majority of scholars, and this is the fatwa (definition) we adopt. However, Sheikh al-Islam Ibn Taymiyyah held that an expiation for an oath (kaffarat yameen) is due if the husband did not intend divorce by his oath. This expiation is binding upon the swearing husband, not the wife. Know that the lawful oath is to swear by Allah Almighty, whereas swearing by divorce is among the oaths of the dissolute, and it may lead to undesirable consequences.