Does divorce occur with the statement: "Divorce upon me if you call a second time during working hours, I will not let you," if the intention behind it was not divorce, but merely a threat to prevent the wife from calling during working hours for unnecessary matters, especially with existing doubts about the husband possibly hinting at divorce on previous occasions?

The fatwa (definition) issued is that swearing by divorce—whether intended as an actual divorce, a threat, a prohibition, an incitement, or an affirmation—results in the occurrence of divorce upon breaking the oath. This is the view of the majority of scholars. Ibn Taymiyyah, however, held that in these cases, divorce does not occur; instead, an expiation for breaking an oath (kaffarat yamin (definition)) becomes obligatory. The phrase "I will not leave you" is a double entendre that could mean divorce or something else. If you intended divorce with it, then divorce occurs if it was directed at you. If you did not intend divorce, then it does not occur unless your wife approached you and you did not fulfill your threat. What is considered is the intention of the one swearing the oath in determining what is being made conditional. We advise presenting the matter to a Sharia (definition) court or to trusted scholars.