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Does a conditional divorce, pronounced with the words, "You will be divorced if you speak to your sister," take effect if the husband gives his wife permission to communicate with her sister, taking into consideration the context of the statement and the husband’s reply to her brother a few minutes after the utterance? And does the husband's intention at the time of uttering the divorce affect this fatwa? And would it be considered a second divorce if the wife speaks to her sister while observing the 'iddah from a clear divorce?

1 min readAlso available in العربية

The nature of a conditional oath depends on the husband's intention. If his intention behind the oath allows for a specific interpretation, then his oath is directed towards that. If there is no specific intention, then the context of the oath is what matters.

Given the apparent circumstances, the questioner's oath to prevent his wife from speaking to her sister is conditioned upon it being without his knowledge or permission. Therefore, there is no harm in him permitting his wife to speak to her sister, and no divorce will occur as a result, nor will it occur if she speaks to her sister with his knowledge.

If a husband makes his wife's divorce conditional upon a certain act, and then divorces her (less than three times), the condition remains. If the wife performs the act upon which the divorce was conditioned while she is still in her waiting period (iddah), her divorce takes effect, for a revocably divorced wife is still subject to divorce.

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

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