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Does he still carry the ruling of one who is overcome by obsessive whispers and one who is coerced after his condition has improved from obsessive whispers, and is expiation for an oath valid in cash?

1 min readAlso available in العربية

The validity of divorce depends on intention and choice. Therefore, if someone intends to utter the divorce pronouncement while fully aware of what they are saying, the divorce occurs. However, for a person suffering from obsessive doubts (al-musawwis) to pronounce divorce in order to get rid of these doubts is a wrong approach, as Satan wishes to create separation between a person and their spouse. The cure for the musawwis is to seek refuge in Allah from Satan, not to fulfill what Satan desires from him. What was mentioned about fearing a return to abandoning worship is not an impediment to the divorce taking place, unless the matter reaches a point of overwhelming compulsion and loss of choice. Divorce occurs upon breaking an oath, based on what is issued as fatwa by the majority opinion regarding the issue of swearing by divorce. There is no harm in adopting the view of Ibn Taymiyyah to alleviate hardship. The majority, however, hold that it is not permissible to give money in lieu of fulfilling the expiation for an oath.

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

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