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What is the ruling on one who has forbidden his wife to himself permanently due to a specific action?

1 min readAlso available in العربية

The wording of the oath is not clear to us, and whether you swore two separate oaths or a single oath.

Firstly: If the wife does not do what you swore by, then there is nothing upon you.

Secondly: If she does it and your oath was in two separate forms: If the oath was by Allah Almighty: You are bound by an expiation for an oath. Your intention regarding the prohibition should be considered: if you intended divorce, then it is a divorce; if you intended ẓihār, then it is ẓihār; if you intended an oath or had no intention, then the first expiation is sufficient according to the majority. The evidence is the Almighty's saying: "O Prophet, why do you prohibit what Allah has made lawful for you, seeking to please your wives? And Allah is Forgiving, Merciful. Allah has already ordained for you the dissolution of your oaths." (At-Tahrim: 1-2). If the oath was by divorce: If you also intended divorce by the prohibition, then two divorces are binding upon you, unless you intended confirmation, in which case it is one divorce.

Thirdly: If what was sworn by was a single thing, namely "my wife is prohibited": What is binding upon you when you break the oath is what results from the prohibition according to your intention. If you had no intention, then it entails an expiation for an oath.

Types of Expiations: Expiation for an oath: Feeding ten poor people or clothing them or freeing a believing slave. If you are unable, then fasting for three days. Expiation for ẓihār: Freeing a slave. If you are unable, then fasting for two consecutive months. If you are unable, then feeding sixty poor people.

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

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