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Is a divorce effected by the words "you are free" if the wife went to her family's home where her brother was present, knowing that the husband intended divorce by these words, and is it permissible for the wife to go to her family's home if her brother gets married?

1 min readAlso available in العربية

A man's statement to his wife: "If you go there again and your brother is present, you are absolved (khaliṣah)" is a contingent metaphorical divorce. Since the husband intended divorce by saying "khaliṣah," meaning "divorced (ṭāliqa)," if the wife goes to her family's house and her brother is there, then divorce has occurred by consensus of the jurists.

If this is the first or second divorce, the husband can take his wife back as long as she has not delivered her pregnancy (because the waiting period for a pregnant woman ends with childbirth). If she delivers her pregnancy before the رجعة (revocation), she becomes irrevocably divorced (baynūnah ṣughrā) and is not permissible for him unless with a new contract and dowry. However, if it is the third divorce, she is not permissible for him until she marries another husband willingly.

After the divorce occurs, the oath is dissolved, and the divorce does not recur if the condition is repeated; because an oath of divorce does not imply repetition. The husband's anger does not affect the occurrence of divorce as long as he is aware and chooses what he says. The husband is advised to be patient and not make fateful decisions when angry.

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

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