Does divorce take effect if a man tells his wife, "If you insult my family again, you are divorced," and then the wife defiantly repeats the offense?

Most scholars hold that if a husband makes his wife's divorce contingent upon a condition, she is divorced upon the fulfillment of that condition, regardless of whether the husband intended to effect the divorce or merely intended to threaten, emphasize, or prevent. Some scholars, like Ibn Taymiyyah, are of the view that if the husband did not intend to effect the divorce, but rather intended to threaten, emphasize, or prevent, then the divorce does not occur; instead, he is required to pay an expiation for a broken oath (kaffarat yameen).

The fatwa adopted by us is that the divorce has occurred if the wife performs the action upon which the divorce was made contingent. However, if she performed it out of defiance with the intention of bringing about the divorce, there is a difference of opinion among scholars regarding the occurrence of the divorce. The majority hold that it occurs, while some verified scholars maintain that it does not occur, treating her with the opposite of her intention. Since the matter is subject to dispute, it is preferable to present it to a Sharia court or trusted scholars.