What is the ruling on someone who said to his wife, "If you return to drinking alcohol, then you are divorced," intending not divorce but rather to put an end to the argument, and then she returned to drinking alcohol, knowing that this would be the third divorce and they have four children?

The one who drinks alcohol must repent sincerely and stop immediately, for it is the mother of all evils and one of the major sins. Whoever drinks it, their prayer is not accepted for forty days, and the one who drinks it is cursed. As for divorcing the wife, jurists have agreed that if someone suspends his wife's divorce on a certain condition, then if that condition occurs, the divorce takes place, whether he intended divorce or merely an oath. Some are of the view that the divorce takes place if he intended divorce, but if he intended an oath, then he must offer expiation for breaking an oath. It is advisable to refer to the Sharia (definition) courts in one's country.