Does a divorce take effect with the statement, "If your mother does not return home, you will be divorced"?

The ruling on suspending divorce on the wife's return home depends on your intention:

1. If you intended merely a promise of divorce: Nothing is binding on you if you do not divorce her after the non-return, because fulfilling a promise is not obligatory.

2. If you intended to effect the divorce:

If you specified a time for her return (e.g., a month): Then the divorce becomes effective according to the majority of scholars if she does not return before the expiration of the period. Sheikh Al-Islam Ibn Taymiyyah holds that an expiation for an oath (kaffarat yamin) is required if you did not intend divorce but rather a threat.

If you did not specify a time for her return: Then no divorce is binding on you unless her return becomes impossible, such as by the wife's death or similar circumstances.