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The question

Does a divorce take effect with the statement, "If your mother does not return home, you will be divorced"?

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Source: FtawySummarized from the full answer at Ftawy · imported Sep 2, 20261 min readAlso available in العربية
The answer

The ruling on suspending divorce on the wife's return home depends on your intention:

1. If you intended merely a promise of divorce: Nothing is binding on you if you do not divorce her after the non-return, because fulfilling a promise is not obligatory.

2. If you intended to effect the divorce:

If you specified a time for her return (e.g., a month): Then the divorce becomes effective according to the majority of scholars if she does not return before the expiration of the period. Sheikh Al-Islam Ibn Taymiyyah holds that an expiation for an oath (kaffarat ) is required if you did not intend divorce but rather a threat.

If you did not specify a time for her return: Then no divorce is binding on you unless her return becomes impossible, such as by the wife's death or similar circumstances.

Summarized from the full answer at Ftawy · imported

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Where this answer came from
Source platform
Ftawy
Original fatwa ID
116132
Imported
Translation status
Source text, unreviewed
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