Is threatening divorce by text message via phone, with the intention of deterring the wife and her family and bringing her back home, considered an irrevocable divorce necessitating an 'iddah, or an oath not to allow the wife back into the home? And what are the implications if it is considered the former, knowing that the husband is an expatriate and wishes to reconcile with his wife?

If the questioner's intent was to prevent his wife from entering the house if she did not return that night, and he did not intend divorce, then if she enters the house, an expiation for a broken oath (kaffarat yameen) becomes obligatory upon him. What he mentioned in the second and third messages does not constitute a divorce as long as he did not intend to initiate a divorce. The questioner is advised to present the matter to the Sharia court or to trusted scholars, to avoid using divorce pronouncements for threats, and to deal with his wife with wisdom.