Does a triple divorce take effect if a man says to his wife, "If you do not answer, then you are triply divorced," and he calls her but she does not answer, and his intention was to intimidate her? And does she have to observe an 'iddah, or is she entitled to a dowry?

Most scholars hold that conditioning divorce upon a condition brings about the divorce when the condition is met, regardless of whether the husband intended the divorce or merely a threat. They also hold that pronouncing divorce three times results in three divorces, and the wife becomes irrevocably divorced (baynunah kubra). She does not become lawful for her first husband until she marries another man, he consummates the marriage with her, and then he divorces her or dies, and her waiting period (iddah) expires. However, Sheikh al-Islam Ibn Taymiyyah differed, holding that if the husband did not intend to effect a divorce but rather intended a threat, then no divorce occurs, and he is obligated to pay an expiation for an oath (kaffarat yamin).