Does divorce occur if the husband utters the words aloud to himself without intending for it to take effect?
Source: FtawySummary from Ftawy's records · added here Sep 2, 2026
Divorce occurs with an explicit utterance, even without the intention (), and it occurs with an ambiguous utterance (kinayah) when accompanied by the intention of divorce, where the utterance could mean divorce or something else. Divorce does not occur with a command form, such as "divorce her," if a man addresses himself with it. If a person is afflicted with obsessive-compulsive disorder (waswasah) and is overcome by it, causing him to utter words of divorce, then his divorce does not occur. The person afflicted with waswasah must strive against himself and turn away from these obsessive thoughts.
Summary from Ftawy's records · added here
Reviewed by El Fatwa's sharia committee.
Read the full answer on Ftawyhttps://ftawy.com/en/questions/187430
Where this answer came from
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- Ftawy
- Original fatwa ID
- 187430
- Added here
- . This is when the answer was added to El Fatwa, not the fatwa's date.
- Text
- Summary from Ftawy's records, reviewed by El Fatwa's sharia committee.
- Read the full ruling
- Read the full answer on Ftawy