Does divorce occur if the husband says to his wife: "I divorce you by three from you, we will sit in a certain place," without intending divorce?

The majority of scholars hold the view that swearing by divorce—whether intended as an actual divorce or a threat or anything else—results in divorce if the oath is broken. They also believe that pronouncing divorce three times results in a triple divorce. This is the prevailing fatwa. However, Sheikh al-Islam Ibn Taymiyyah is of the opinion that swearing by divorce, when the intention is not to make divorce conditional but rather to threaten or emphasize, has the same ruling as swearing by Allah. Thus, if the oath is broken, the swearer must pay an expiation for an oath (kaffarat yameen), and divorce does not occur.

Based on this, the prevailing fatwa is that if you break your oath, your wife is irrevocably divorced from you with a major separation (baynunah kubra). However, according to the view of Sheikh al-Islam Ibn Taymiyyah, divorce does not occur when you break your oath, but you are required to pay an expiation for an oath (feeding ten poor people, or clothing them, or fasting three days).

Breaking your oath depends on your intention. If you swore to remain in a specific place for a specific time, you only break the oath by leaving that place within the specified time, because intention particularizes the general wording and restricts the absolute.

It must be noted that the lawful oath is to swear by Allah Almighty. As for swearing by divorce, it is among the oaths of the dissolute, and grave consequences may result from it.