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Does divorce occur with the husband's statement: "If you utter one more word, you are divorced," followed by the wife's response: "No, this is not what I want"?

1 min readAlso available in العربية

Most scholars are of the opinion that conditioning divorce upon a condition brings about the divorce upon the fulfillment of that condition, whether the intention was to effect the divorce or merely to threaten, confirm, or prevent. This is the established fatwa. However, Shaykh al-Islam Ibn Taymiyyah held that if the husband did not intend to effect a divorce but rather to threaten, confirm, or prevent, then no divorce occurs, but he is liable for an expiation for breaking an oath (kaffarat yamin).

Accordingly, the established fatwa is that your divorce has occurred if your husband broke his oath. His breaking of the oath depends on his intention at the time of uttering the words: if he intended to prevent you from speaking absolutely, then the divorce occurs. If he intended to prevent you from speaking about a specific matter, then his oath is restricted to what he intended, and he does not break it otherwise; for intention specifies the general and restricts the absolute in an oath.

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

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