What is the ruling regarding a man saying to his wife: "Divorced by three, every time you become lawful, you become unlawful if you go out to work," if she goes out to work with his consent, and is this considered a divorce or a dhihar, and is expiation obligatory?

The husband erred by saying, "Every time you go out to work, you are divorced by three." The majority opinion is that if the condition is met, the divorce occurs, and she becomes irrevocably divorced from him. Ibn Taymiyyah, however, held a more detailed view: if he intended to prevent her, it is treated as an oath, and he must pay expiation for breaking an oath. If he intended divorce, only one divorce occurs, because a triple divorce counts as one. His statement, "Every time you become permissible for me, you become forbidden," means that every time he takes her back, she is divorced. So, if he takes her back during her 'iddah, she is divorced a second time, and if he takes her back again, she is divorced a third time, and she becomes irrevocably divorced from him. The way out is for him to leave her after the first divorce until she becomes revocably divorced (minor irrevocability), then marry her again with a new contract and a new mahr. In this case, a second divorce will not occur because the suspension (of divorce) preceded the new marriage. He should consult Dar al-Ifta or a Sharia court.