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Does the phrase: "Divorce if my wife does not go to her family's house unless I am with her" -which was said in intense anger and with the intention of preventing the wife from going to her family alone due to previous problems with her family, and not with the intention of divorce- constitute a conditional divorce oath that necessitates the occurrence of divorce if the wife goes to her family's house without the presence of the husband, or is it an oath that requires an expiation for an oath?

1 min readAlso available in العربية

Anger does not prevent the occurrence of divorce as long as the person is aware of what he is saying. Swearing by divorce results in divorce according to the majority of scholars if the sworn-upon condition occurs, while Ibn Taymiyyah views it as a ruling concerning an oath, requiring expiation. The utterance of "you are divorced" without adding "my wife" is disputed between being explicit (sarih) and allusive (kinayah); if it was allusive and you did not intend divorce, then nothing is incumbent upon you. However, if it was explicit, divorce occurs upon her departure. According to Ibn Taymiyyah's view, an expiation for an oath is required. It is best to present the issue to trustworthy scholars.

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

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