Back to search

What is the ruling on a wife being divorced if she swore to her husband a conditional divorce by saying: "You are divorced if I betray you, or if I flirt, or if I do anything behind your back," and then the wife messaged her husband, disguised as another person, without his knowledge? Does the divorce take place in this case?

1 min readAlso available in العربية

A wife should not test her husband with suspicion, as marital life is built on trust. What the wife did was a wrong act that led to a greater wrong, which is the husband's deception. Regarding whether a divorce occurs or not, jurists have differed based on considering the actual situation or the husband's intention. If we consider the actual situation (the husband spoke to his wife), then no divorce occurs. However, if we consider his intention (speaking to a foreign woman), then he has broken his oath. As for the husband forgetting the oath, there is a difference of opinion among jurists regarding whether a divorce occurs, but the preponderant view is that it does not. Both spouses must work to stabilize their marital life by obeying Allah and respecting each other's rights.

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

Read the full answer on Ftawy