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Did a divorce occur for the wife whose husband swore by divorce that she would not go to work, and she went, knowing that he had previously divorced her twice?

1 min readAlso available in العربية

If a husband tells his wife, "You are divorced," after she has requested it, then the divorce takes effect. If a divorce is made contingent upon a specific action that did not occur, the majority of scholars hold that the divorce takes place, whereas Ibn Taymiyyah believes it does not occur if the husband intended only a threat. As for swearing by divorce that the wife will not go to work, it falls under the ruling of a contingent divorce, and the matter branches out into the aforementioned scholarly dispute. If the wife thought the prohibition was for a specific day and she violated it thereafter, some scholars hold that no breach of the oath occurs. If the husband acts upon the fatwa of a known shaykh who permits giving out expiation (kaffarah) in monetary value, there is no blame upon him; however, the majority of jurists do not consider giving out monetary value as sufficient for the expiation of an oath. It is permissible for the husband to take his wife back after the first or second divorce without a new contract, as long as she is within her waiting period (iddah). The spouses should maintain affection and respect, and deliberate carefully before resorting to divorce. The husband should also avoid swearing by divorce.

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

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