Book of ʿIlāʾ (Forswearing)

ʿIlāʾ occurs when a husband swears by Allah—or by one of His attributes—that he will abstain from vaginal intercourse with his wife for more than four months.

Such an oath is valid if uttered by a non-Muslim, a slave, a discerning minor, an angry man, an intoxicated man, a patient whose recovery is expected, or a husband who has not yet consummated the marriage. It is not valid from someone insane, unconscious, or permanently incapable of intercourse because of complete castration or paralysis.

If he says, “By Allah, I will never have intercourse with you,” or fixes a period longer than four months, or says, “until Jesus returns,” “until the Antichrist appears,” “until you drink wine, abandon your religion, give away your property,” or similar wording, he becomes a muʾlī (one bound by ʿilāʾ).

When four months have passed from the time of his oath—even if he is a slave—then, should he have intercourse, even by nothing more than inserting the glans¹ into the vagina, his return (fiʾaʾ) is realized. Otherwise, he is ordered to divorce her; if he refuses, the judge divorces her on his behalf—whether with a single pronouncement, three pronouncements, or by annulling the marriage.

Anal intercourse or any intimacy short of vaginal penetration does not count as a return. If he claims that the four-month period has not yet run out, or that he has had intercourse with her while she is non-virgin, he is believed after swearing an oath. If she is a virgin—or claims to be and a trustworthy woman testifies to that—her word is accepted.

Should he withhold intercourse purely to harm her, with no oath and no legitimate excuse, he is treated in the same manner as a muʾlī.

¹ Penetration to the depth of the glans is sufficient to establish intercourse.