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What is the ruling on swearing an oath of divorce concerning something in the past, such as the husband saying to his wife: "Divorce upon me that you were the one who closed it"?

1 min readAlso available in العربية

If a man swears by divorce concerning a past event, and he is truthful, then no divorce occurs. If he believes himself to be truthful, even if the reality is contrary to what he believes, the preponderant opinion is that no divorce occurs. This is a view held by the Shafi'is and Hanbalis and was chosen by Ibn Taymiyyah. However, if he intentionally lies when swearing by divorce, the majority of scholars hold that divorce occurs. Ibn Taymiyyah disagreed with this, but he would be required to repent for lying. It is advisable to avoid swearing by divorce due to the severe consequences that may result from it.

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

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