Is a divorce considered to have occurred if I made my wife swear an oath not to relay anything from my mother or me to my brother's wife, and she then did so? And if it has occurred, is there a way for me to take her back, and how would that be, and what is the expiation for my oath?

If the wife disobeys her husband and conveys his mother's words to his brother's wife, then according to our fatwa, a divorce occurs, whether the husband intended to enact it or merely intended to emphasize or threaten. This is the view of the majority of scholars. If it was no more than one divorce, he may take his wife back before her 'iddah expires.

According to some scholars, such as Ibn Taymiyyah, if the husband did not intend to enact a divorce but rather intended to emphasize or similar, then no divorce occurs, and an expiation for an oath (kaffarat yamin) is due.

However, if the wife informed him of something about his mother that was not included in the oath, neither in wording nor intention, then the husband has not broken his oath, and his divorce has not occurred, because the validity of an oath depends on the intention of the one who swears it.

The lawful oath is to swear by Allah the Almighty. Swearing by divorce is among the oaths of the wicked, and one should beware of it.