Does a divorce take effect if a husband swears to divorce his wife should he hear her voice before morning, and then hears her crying without her speaking?
The we adopt is that when a husband swears an oath that divorce will occur, it does occur, whether the husband intended to bring about the divorce or merely to threaten with it. However, Sheikh al-Islam Ibn Taymiyyah was of the opinion that whoever swears by divorce for the purpose of threat or emphasis is only required to offer an expiation for a broken oath (kaffarat ) and is not bound by divorce.
The occurrence of divorce in this case depends on the husband's intention at the time of the oath. If he intended to make the divorce contingent upon hearing his wife's voice in general, then it occurs upon hearing her crying. However, if he intended to make it contingent upon hearing her speech specifically, and not other sounds, then the oath is restricted by his intention, and he does not break his oath by hearing crying, because intention specifies the general and restricts the absolute in an oath.
Summary from Ftawy's records · added here
Reviewed by El Fatwa's sharia committee.
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- Summary from Ftawy's records, reviewed by El Fatwa's sharia committee.
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