Back to search

Does divorce occur if the husband swears by divorce three times with the intention of frightening his wife, not intending divorce, and then the wife disobeys what the husband swore by? And what is the solution if divorce occurs?

1 min readAlso available in العربية

The majority of jurists hold that a divorce suspended on a condition takes effect when the condition is met, citing the hadith of Ibn Umar as evidence.

Some scholars, such as Ibn Taymiyyah and Ibn al-Qayyim, are of the view that a suspended divorce intended as a threat does not take effect; rather, it is treated as an oath, requiring an expiation for breaking an oath: feeding ten poor persons, or clothing them, or fasting three days if one is unable to do the former.

If the suspension of divorce and the fulfillment of the condition occur three times, the wife becomes irrevocably divorced (baynunah kubra) and is not permissible for her first husband unless she marries another man.

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

Read the full answer on Ftawy