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What is the ruling on one who swore by triple divorce in a moment of anger not to ride a taxi or do a specific thing, then regretted his oath and wishes to retract it after the problem is resolved?

1 min readAlso available in العربية

Suspended divorce, according to the majority of scholars, takes effect upon the fulfillment of the condition it is suspended upon. If you swore by triple divorce not to ride a car, then the solution is not to ride it. If you ride it, the triple divorce takes effect, according to the majority, and this is the relied-upon opinion. Consequently, your wife becomes unlawful to you until she marries another husband. This is unless you intended a specific time or manner, in which case there is no breach thereafter.

Shaykh al-Islam Ibn Taymiyyah and those who agreed with him held that if your intention was to threaten or prevent, and not to effect divorce, then an expiation for breaking an oath becomes obligatory upon you. If you intended divorce, then it is a single divorce.

The majority believe that a suspended divorce cannot be revoked. However, Shaykh al-Islam Ibn Taymiyyah permitted its revocation before the breach, and Shaykh Ibn ‘Uthaymeen supported this by arguing that this is a right of the husband, and if he waives it, there is no harm. It is recommended to consult a Sharia court or trustworthy scholars to detail what occurred.

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

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