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Does a divorce occur if a man swears that his wife will not speak to or enter the house of her paternal uncle's family, and then the wife is compelled to greet and speak to one of them before the husband expiates his oath?

1 min readAlso available in العربية

An oath (al-yameen) can refer to swearing by Allah or by divorce. The phrase "yameen thalatha منك" (an oath of three from you) refers to divorce, and its ruling is the same as swearing by triple divorce. The majority of scholars hold that triple divorce occurs upon breaking such an oath. However, Ibn Taymiyyah is of the opinion that if one intended to make the divorce conditional, then a single divorce occurs. But if one intended affirmation or prevention (by the oath), then an expiation for an oath (kaffarat yameen) is due, and no divorce occurs. The fatwa issued (al-mufta bihi) is in accordance with the opinion of the majority. It is advisable to present the matter to trustworthy scholars.

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

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