Does a divorce contingent upon the wife's deceit regarding her feelings take effect, given the uncertainty in the formulation of the contingency and her inability to determine the veracity or falsity of her feelings, and can love coexist with anger?
Scholars have differed regarding the ruling on swearing by divorce (talaq) and conditioning it on a stipulation. The majority of them hold that divorce occurs irrevocably upon breaking the oath, and this is the fatwa we adhere to. Conversely, Sheikh al-Islam Ibn Taymiyyah is of the opinion that if one swears by divorce without intending to effect it, then expiation for an oath (kaffarat yameen) is required. If the matter upon which the divorce is conditioned can only be known through the wife, then her statement is fundamentally considered valid. If she states that it occurred, it occurs; if she states that it did not occur, it does not occur. Some scholars believe that if a man conditions divorce on his wife's informing him of something, and he does not know if she is truthful or false, then she is divorced from him religiously (diyanatan) but not judicially (qada’an). The preponderant view with us in this situation is that divorce does not occur, because the fundamental principle is the continuation of the marriage, and it is not removed by doubt.
Summarized from the full answer at Ftawy · reviewed Sep 2, 2026
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