Back to search

Does a divorce take place if the wife leaves after the husband swore, in the peak of his anger, that she should not leave alone, and is expiation obligatory upon him?

1 min readAlso available in العربية

If a man swears an oath of divorce that his wife will not leave alone, and she does, then divorce occurs, regardless of whether the husband intended to make the divorce contingent or merely to threaten her. This is the view of the majority of scholars. However, Sheikh al-Islam Ibn Taymiyyah dissented, holding that if he did not intend to make the divorce contingent, then he must offer expiation for an oath (kaffarat yameen) and no divorce occurs. If he swore by Allah, then no divorce occurs, and he must offer expiation for an oath. All of this applies if he was aware of what he was saying; if he was not aware, then his oath has no effect. It is best to present the issue to a Sharia court or to knowledgeable scholars. The lawful oath is by Allah; as for swearing by divorce, it is among the oaths of the dissolute, and some scholars have deemed it forbidden while others consider it reprehensible.

Summarized from the full answer at Ftawy · reviewed Sep 2, 2026

Read the full answer on Ftawy