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What is the ruling on the following four cases: 1. Swearing by divorce to call the wife's father, then calling him without informing him of what happened? 2. Swearing by divorce that the wife would not knock on the door, with the intention of specifying that particular time, so would the divorce take effect if she knocked on the door at a later time? 3. Repeating the phrase "divorced, divorced, divorced" with the intention of emphasis and not repetition, so does it count as three divorces or one? 4. Swearing by divorce on a matter that is merely presumed before verifying it, then it turns out to be otherwise?

1 min readAlso available in العربية

A husband should not rush into swearing an oath of divorce or making it conditional upon every problem, as this involves hardship and a mockery of Allah's rulings. Regarding the mentioned cases: If you were unable to contact your wife's father to inform him due to his being busy, and if you intended a specific time for the call, and it did not happen at that time, then according to the majority of scholars, divorce has occurred. However, if you did not specify a time, divorce does not occur unless contact becomes impossible due to death. If you contact him now, divorce will not occur. In the second case, if you said to your wife: "If you knock on the door a second time, you are divorced," and you intended that time only, then nothing is binding upon you if she knocks on the door at another time. In the third case, if you said: "You are divorced, divorced, divorced," and you intended emphasis, then a single divorce occurs. As for the fourth case, if you said: "I swear by divorce that it is such and such," and then it turned out to be otherwise, divorce does not occur.

Based on this, divorce has occurred from you only in the third case, and it has not occurred in the second and fourth cases, while the first case depends on the detailed explanation provided. If you have not divorced your wife with another divorce, you can take her back without the need for a new contract if she has not yet completed her iddah (waiting period).

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

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