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The question

What is the ruling on saying, "علي الطلاق (By divorce) I will frown in their faces all the time," intending one's housemates, while having no intention of divorce?

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Source: FtawySummarized from the full answer at Ftawy · reviewed Sep 2, 20261 min readAlso available in العربية
The answer

The fatwa we adopt regarding the issue of swearing by divorce is the opinion of the majority of scholars, which is that divorce occurs upon breaking the oath. However, some scholars, such as Sheikh al-Islam Ibn Taymiyyah, hold that an oath not intended to effect divorce has the ruling of an oath by Allah, so breaking it necessitates an expiation for an oath, and divorce does not occur.

Based on this, if you do not frown at your colleagues, you have broken your oath, and your divorce has occurred according to the opinion of the majority. As for the opinion of Ibn Taymiyyah, your divorce does not occur by breaking your oath, but an expiation for an oath becomes binding upon you.

It should be noted that fulfilling an oath is not permissible if the oath is to commit a sin, and dissolving it becomes obligatory.

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

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