Does a divorce take place if the wife goes to a place her husband warned her not to go to by saying: "If you go to such-and-such a place without my permission, then you are divorced"?

The fatwa we adopt is that if a wife goes to a place without her husband's permission and he stipulates her divorce on that, then his divorce falls upon her. If this divorce is not the completion of three divorces, he has the right to take her back during her 'iddah (waiting period). The ruling does not change if the husband is a expatriate.

Some scholars, such as Ibn Taymiyyah, are of the view that if the husband did not intend to effect a divorce, but rather intended to threaten, then divorce does not occur, but he is obliged to pay an expiation for an oath.

We draw attention to the fact that the lawful oath is by Allah Almighty, whereas swearing by divorce is among the oaths of the transgressors.