Chapter on Conditional Divorce

If the husband suspends the divorce1 upon the occurrence of an impossible act—such as saying, “If you ascend to the sky you are divorced”—no divorce takes effect. But if he suspends it upon the non-occurrence of that same act, for example, “If you do not ascend to the sky you are divorced,” the divorce takes effect immediately. When the condition concerns something possible, no divorce occurs2 until hope has vanished that the conditioned event will take place, unless the wording, the husband’s intention, or a supporting indication shows that he meant it to be immediate, or he limited it to a set time; in those cases, the stated limit is applied.

Section

A conditional formula is valid whether the condition comes first or last: “If you stand, you are divorced,” or, “You are divorced—if you stand.”

For the suspension to be valid, the husband must intend the condition before finishing the utterance of the divorce, and the words of divorce and of the condition must remain contiguous, either literally or by legal convention. Thus, it does no harm if he sneezes or the like, or if he inserts coherent speech, as in: “You are divorced, you adulteress, if you stand.” It does, however, break the connection if he interrupts with silence or with incoherent speech3 such as saying, “subḥān Allāh” (Glory be to Allah); in that case the divorce takes effect at once.