Does divorce occur with the saying, "Divorce be upon me, if you come home from work and find anything on top of the refrigerator, you are not staying in the house," if the wife removed most of the items but left some, knowing that she understood the intention was to clean and not to remove everything?
The breaking of an oath (al-Hinth) in an oath of divorce does not occur except with the convergence of two matters: the wife's contravention of what was sworn upon, and the husband's failure to carry out what he threatened her with upon contravention. The determination of these two matters refers back to your intention.
If the wife did what you intended from her, and she did not leave some things except by interpreting that she did not intend for you to command her to remove everything; then the preponderant opinion is that the divorce does not occur.
We advise swearing by Allah Almighty, for swearing by divorce is among the oaths of the dissolute, and grave consequences may result from it. Threatening the wife with divorce in trivial matters is an unsound approach that contradicts living together equitably. Ibn Uthaymeen mentioned that the correct path is to admonish her and remind her of the verses of Allah Almighty.
Summarized from the full answer at Ftawy · reviewed Sep 2, 2026
Read the full answer on Ftawyhttps://ftawy.com/en/questions/178553