Back to search

Is it permissible for the wife to open her husband's new phone after he swore an oath of triple divorce upon her not to open his old, broken phone, and what is the ruling on breaking an oath?

1 min readAlso available in العربية

The majority of jurists hold that swearing an oath by divorce results in its occurrence upon breaking the oath, and that pronouncing divorce three times counts as three divorces. This differs from the view of Ibn Taymiyyah, who believes that swearing by divorce is an expiation for an oath if divorce was not intended, and that pronouncing divorce three times counts as one divorce. As for the oath, it depends on the husband's intention; if he intended only the broken phone, then there is no breach of the oath by opening a new one. However, if he intended a general meaning or a meaning that includes the new one, then opening it breaches the oath. It is important to note that spying is forbidden in Islamic law, and a wife is not permitted to search her husband's phone without his permission, as Allah Almighty says: "O you who have believed, avoid much [negative] assumption. Indeed, some assumption is sin. And do not spy." Acting upon Ibn Taymiyyah's view that swearing by divorce is an expiable oath is permissible.

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

Read the full answer on Ftawy