What are the implications if a wife, in a state of anger, says to her husband, "From now on, you are forbidden to me," and then the husband replies, "You are divorced," and thereafter they reconcile?
A man's statement to his wife: "You are unlawful to me" constitutes a divorce or ẓihār (a pronouncement that makes one's wife like one's mother or sister, thereby making sexual relations unlawful) depending on his intention, or an oath if he intended to forbid her person or intercourse with her. As for a woman's statement to her husband: "You are unlawful to me," it does not constitute a divorce or ẓihār. However, it constitutes an oath if she intended to forbid him from having sexual relations with her or to forbid his person, and she is considered to have broken her oath if he has intercourse with her thereafter. The husband's statement to his wife: "You are divorced" is an explicit divorce. If it is the first or second divorce, he may take her back. If it is the third, she is not lawful for him until she marries another husband and he consummates the marriage with her, then divorces her, and her iddah (waiting period) expires.
Summarized from the full answer at Ftawy · reviewed Sep 2, 2026
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