and divorce—more so than in other oaths that take the form of vows made in obstinacy and anger. If a man swears by divorce that he will kill someone, sever ties of kinship, or refuse to fulfill an obligation incumbent upon him—such as discharging a trust or the like—he thereby makes divorce, through his oath, an obstacle to acting righteously, being mindful of Allah, and making peace between people, to an even greater extent than he makes Allah an obstacle through his oath. If he then fulfills his oath, he incurs harm in this world and the Hereafter of a kind that the Muslims unanimously agree it is forbidden to become involved in. If, instead, he divorces his wife, divorce likewise entails unmistakable worldly and religious harm.

As for the religious harm, divorce is deemed reprehensible by agreement of the Muslim community when the relationship between the spouses is sound, whether in the non-prohibitive or the prohibitive sense. How much more so when they are deeply attached and have children and a shared life, such that their divorce would cause immense harm in matters of religion. The worldly harm is likewise evident from experience: if either spouse were given the choice between leaving behind their wealth and homeland or divorcing, they would choose separation from their wealth and homeland over divorce. Allah has coupled separation from [one’s homeland] with killing oneself. For this reason, Ahmad held in one of the two reports from him, following Atā, that if a woman enters the state of consecration for Hajj and her husband swears by divorce that she must not perform Hajj, she is deemed prevented from completing the pilgrimage and may leave the state of consecration, because the harm this entails for her is greater than—or close to—the harm of being prevented by an enemy.

This is clear in the case of someone who says, “If I do such-and-such, I am bound to divorce you or manumit my slaves.” By agreement, this is a vow made in obstinacy and anger, just as if he were to say, “By Allah, I will surely divorce you,” or, “I will surely manumit my slaves.” The distinction between manumission taking effect and its becoming obligatory is precisely what those who distinguish between the two have relied upon. We shall discuss this, Allah willing.

Moreover, Allah Most High says:

“O Prophet! Why do you prohibit what Allah has made lawful for you?” [al-Tahrīm: 1]