What is the ruling on one who says to his wife, "You are unlawful to me," if she does something, and then she is compelled to do it with his knowledge and consent? Does it constitute a divorce or an oath, and what is its expiation?
Scholars have differed regarding the implications of a husband's pronouncement of unlawfulness upon his wife. Some have held that it constitutes ẓihār (a pre-Islamic form of divorce by likening one's wife to an unmarriageable kin), others that it is a divorce, and yet others that it is an oath. The authoritative view (al-muftā bihi) differentiates based on whether the intention was divorce, ẓihār, or an oath. If the husband intended divorce or ẓihār, then what he intended takes effect. If he did not intend divorce or ẓihār, then it is an oath, and its expiation is feeding ten poor persons or clothing them. If he cannot find them, then fasting for three days. If the wife was coerced into the act, the preponderant view is that no breaking of an oath occurs thereby.
Summary from Ftawy's records · added here
Reviewed by El Fatwa's sharia committee.
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