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What is the ruling regarding a wife leaving the house without her husband's permission, knowing that the husband had previously sworn an oath of divorce that she would not leave except with his permission, and then he intended to nullify the oath without informing her, while she claims forgetfulness? And what is incumbent upon the husband to do?

1 min readAlso available in العربية

The majority of scholars hold that a conditional divorce takes effect upon the fulfillment of the condition, and this is the preponderant opinion. Changing one's intention after making an oath or retracting it does not prevent the divorce from occurring, according to the majority. However, if the wife leaves forgetting the oath, then the divorce does not occur. This is the fatwa among the Shafi'is and a narration among the Hanbalis, and it was chosen by Ibn Taymiyyah. Accordingly, no divorce occurs as long as the wife leaves forgetting the oath, and the oath remains binding. If she leaves remembering it, then the divorce occurs.

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

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