—such as an oath involving a vow, zihār (declaring one’s wife unlawful by likening her to an unmarriageable female relative), divorce, or manumission—he has made an oath of abstention according to the overwhelming majority of scholars, including Abū Hanīfah, Mālik, al-Shāfi‘ī in his later position, and Ahmad.

Some scholars, such as Ibn al-Mundhir and others, mention no disagreement on this issue. Ibn ‘Abbās is reported to have said: “Any oath that prevents intercourse is an oath of abstention.” Allah, Glorified and Exalted, has given the man who swears such an oath two choices: either to return to conjugal relations or to divorce. Returning here means intercourse. He is given the choice between retaining his wife honourably and releasing her graciously. If he returns and has intercourse with her, her purpose is fulfilled, and he has retained her honourably. The Most High says:

“If they return, then Allah is All-Forgiving, Most Merciful.”

His forgiveness and mercy towards the man who has sworn abstinence entail absolving him of sin and preserving his marriage. The obligation of expiation, however, is not waived, as in His words:

“O Prophet, why do you forbid what Allah has made lawful for you, seeking to please your wives? And Allah is All-Forgiving, Most Merciful.”

“Allah has already prescribed for you a way to release yourselves from your oaths.”

He thus explains that He is All-Forgiving, Most Merciful through His prescription of a release from oaths: He has shown mercy to His servants through the expiation He has prescribed for them, and through it He has forgiven them for breaking the oaths they bound themselves to observe. For a binding undertaking would require fulfilment were it not for the release He has prescribed, by which the bond of the oath is dissolved. But if the man who has sworn abstinence does not return to conjugal relations and has instead resolved to divorce, then Allah is All-Hearing, All-Knowing.

The ruling concerning the man who has sworn abstinence in the Book of Allah is therefore that he must either return to conjugal relations or resolve to divorce. If he returns, then Allah is All-Forgiving, Most Merciful, and no divorce takes effect thereby. This is agreed upon in the case of an oath sworn by Allah the Most High.

As for “an oath invoking divorce,” whoever holds that divorce takes effect through it and that no expiation is made maintains that, if the man whose oath of abstention invokes divorce returns to conjugal relations, divorce takes effect; and if he resolves to divorce and pronounces it, he incurs