Is there an expiation for swearing by divorce without intending divorce, in a case where the duration of the oath – that the wife would not go to her family's house or see any of them – is not remembered, and does divorce occur if that happens?
The majority of jurists believe that it is not possible to retract an oath once it has been made conditional, while Ibn Taymiyyah holds that it is permissible to retract it. As for expiation upon breaking an oath, the majority of jurists believe that divorce occurs even if it was not intended, whereas Ibn Taymiyyah believes that it does not occur and an expiation for an oath is required. Intention is considered in an oath; if you intended to prevent her from going to her family's house in a specific way, and the opposite happened, then divorce does not occur. Similarly, if the reason for which you swore ceases to exist, then no breach of oath occurs and divorce does not take place. It is necessary to be cautious about swearing by divorce due to the religious prohibitions it entails.
Summarized from the full answer at Ftawy · reviewed Sep 2, 2026
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