Back to search

Does the "ila'" — the oath of abstinence from sexual intercourse — take effect through an indirect expression with the word "repentance" after a quarrel, intending to abstain from sexual intercourse?

1 min readAlso available in العربية

"Ila'" (the vow of abstinence) occurs with a kinayah (allusive statement) accompanied by the intention. However, if a man says to his wife, "Tawbah" (repentance), ila' does not occur, because it has no relation to the intended meaning, and because ila' necessarily requires an oath. If there is no oath, then there is no ila'. If the husband abandons sexual relations with his wife without an excuse, some scholars are of the opinion that the duration of ila' should be applied in this situation to remove harm from the wife.

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

Read the full answer on Ftawy