Is the swallowing of saliva or the emission of a sound from the nose (exhalation) in response to the question "Am I divorced?" considered an affirmative utterance that constitutes a divorce, or is it necessary to articulate the letters? And what is the minimum level of speech for which a person is held accountable?

Divorce does not take effect through an internal thought or a gesture without uttering the words. Uttering the words of divorce or anything else necessitates moving the tongue and lips to produce letters that lead to a ruling. Thus, whispering the divorce—provided one hears oneself and it is an explicit pronouncement or a figurative one that meets the conditions—makes it effective; otherwise, it does not. It is blameworthy to be overly meticulous in questioning and to ask about something that has not occurred, as the Companions asked the Messenger about matters of reality that would benefit them, not about hypothetical situations or complex issues.