What is the ruling regarding a man who assaulted his wife by beating, and then the wife remembered that he had sworn an oath of divorce and prohibition upon himself if he were to assault her again?

Scholars differ on the ruling concerning an oath of divorce and making it conditional. The majority hold that divorce occurs upon breaking the oath. However, Sheikh al-Islam Ibn Taymiyyah is of the view that if the intention behind the oath of divorce is to emphasize, prevent, or encourage, then the one who breaks the oath must pay an expiation for an oath (kaffarat yamin). They also differ on an oath to declare one's wife unlawful (tahrim). Some consider it ẓihār, some consider it divorce, and some consider it an oath. The preponderant view is that it depends on the intention of the one taking the oath.

Based on this, if you swore an oath to divorce your wife and declare her unlawful if you hit her, and then you broke the oath, the fatwa according to us is that divorce occurs in addition to what you intended by the declaration of unlawfulness. However, if you hit her while forgetting the oath, then you have not broken it, and neither divorce nor unlawfulness is binding upon you. This is the view preferred by the Permanent Committee for Issuing Fatwas.

If you intentionally hit her again after that, you will have broken your oath, and your oath will be dissolved. You will not break it again by doing the sworn-against act. It should be noted that hitting one's wife is not permissible except for disciplinary purposes, after admonition and abandonment, and the hitting must be non-bruising. Swearing by divorce and unlawfulness is not legislated. What is legislated is swearing by Allah the Almighty.