Does a husband's saying to his wife, "Wa Alaykum Assalam" (And upon you be peace) in response to her greeting, count among the ambiguous divorce pronouncements according to the Shafi'i school if coupled with the intention [of divorce]?

Divorce does not occur, according to the Shafi'is and others, when a man returns his wife's greeting, even if he intended divorce by it, because it is a word that neither resembles divorce nor indicates separation.

Imam Shafi'i said: "If he spoke to his wife with words that do not resemble divorce, and said 'I intended divorce by them,' it would not be a divorce. Intention is only effective with what resembles what was intended."

If the question stems from obsessive doubts (waswas) about divorce, then the divorce of a person afflicted by such doubts does not occur, even if he utters explicit words of divorce, as stipulated by the jurists.

Imam Shafi'i said: "And whoever is overcome in his intellect by a natural predisposition or an accidental illness that he did not bring upon himself through disobedience, is not bound by divorce... This includes the mentally deficient, the insane, and the person afflicted by obsessive doubts..."

The best cure for obsessive doubts is to completely disregard them, along with performing ruqyah (Islamic incantation), and increasing remembrance of Allah (dhikr).