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What is the legitimate Islamic solution for expiating the oath, "I swear by God you will not touch the car key, and if you touch the car, you are on your own" (meaning by touching the car, driving it), knowing that the oath was uttered with the words "by divorce" and in a state of extreme anger? And does replacing the car with another one resolve the oath?

1 min readAlso available in العربية

If a man swears that his wife is divorced if she touches the car, this is considered one of the allusive expressions of divorce (Kinayat al-Talaq). If he intended divorce by it, she is divorced by driving the car, because an oath of divorce cannot be retracted. The majority of scholars hold that divorce occurs in this case, while some jurists believe that an expiation for an oath (Kaffarat Yamin) is required if the husband did not intend divorce.

As for replacing the car, the matter depends on the husband's intention; if he intended to prevent her from driving any car, she is divorced by driving any car. If he specifically intended this car, then she is not divorced by driving another car.

Anger does not prevent the occurrence of divorce unless it deprives the person of his consciousness.

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

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