Does talaq occur by saying "you are divorced" in jest, intending a fictional character and not the wife? And does talaq occur by uttering words with the tongue, without sound, during self-talk and its whisperings?
Divorce does not occur merely by an internal monologue, or by uttering it unintentionally, or with doubt about it. Nor does it occur when you utter it during acting, because it is similar to someone who utters it by way of narration or imitation. Ibn 'Uthaymeen mentioned that whoever plays the role of a disbeliever does not become a disbeliever, and that the actor who plays the role of someone who divorced his wife does not have his wife divorced, because he did not attribute the divorce to himself but to someone else. One must be careful not to joke with words of divorce, due to Ibn Taymiyyah's saying: "The Lawgiver has forbidden that the verses of Allah be taken as a mockery, and that a man speak with the verses of Allah, which are contracts, except in seriousness, intending their legal implications. Therefore, jesting with them is forbidden."
Summarized from the full answer at Ftawy · reviewed Sep 2, 2026
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