the oath, its context, and what prompted it. There are two views. The Medinan scholars, such as Mālik, Ahmad, and others, hold that these factors should be taken into account. The well-known position in the schools of Abū Hanīfah and al-Shāfi‘ī is that they should not, although some of their rulings imply otherwise. If the reason for the oath is broader than its wording, those who take the reason into account give effect to it. If it is narrower, should the oath be restricted to it? There are two views in Ahmad’s school and elsewhere.

If someone swears concerning a particular thing, believing it to have a certain attribute, but it proves otherwise, there are likewise two views. The same applies if he divorces his wife on the basis of a circumstance that subsequently proves untrue. For example, he says, “You are divorced because you entered the house”—using the particle an, pronounced with an a-vowel, meaning “on account of your entering the house”—when she had not entered it. Does the divorce take effect? There are two views in Ahmad’s school and elsewhere.

The same applies if he says, “You are divorced because you did such-and-such,” or something similar, when she had not done it. Likewise, if he is told, “Your wife did such-and-such,” and says, “She is divorced,” but it subsequently becomes clear that they had lied about her, there are two views.

They also disagreed concerning prohibited divorce, such as divorce during menstruation, or pronouncing three divorces together according to the majority, who consider this prohibited. Nevertheless, the four imams and the majority of scholars hold that its being prohibited does not prevent it from taking effect. Similarly, zihār is prohibited, yet when a man pronounces it, its legal consequences apply. The same applies to “vows”: it is authentically reported that the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, “forbade them.” Nevertheless, fulfilling a vow is obligatory according to the scriptural texts and scholarly consensus.

Those who held that such a divorce does not take effect believed that everything Allah has forbidden is invalid when performed and produces no legal effect. The majority, however, distinguished between a legal effect that encompasses it but is not commensurate with committing