If, however, he intends to effect a divorce in the manner prescribed by Islamic law—for example, by pronouncing an immediate, single divorce during a period of purity in which he has not had intercourse with her—the divorce takes effect by scholarly consensus.

Likewise, he may make divorce conditional upon a circumstance, intending it to take effect when that circumstance occurs. For example, he wishes to divorce her if she does a particular thing, so he tells her, “If you do it, you are divorced,” intending to divorce her if she does it. This constitutes a pronouncement of divorce, which takes effect according to the early generations and the overwhelming majority of later scholars.

This differs from someone whose intention in taking the oath is to forbid and deter her: even if she did what he dislikes, it would not be permissible for him to divorce her. Rather, he wishes to keep her even if she does it, but uses the oath to prevent her from doing it, without intending divorce to take effect even if she does. This is an oath, and according to the stronger of the two scholarly views held among the early and later generations, it does not cause divorce to take effect. Rather, the expiation for an oath suffices, as explained above.

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The divorce that unquestionably takes effect is the divorce Allah has authorized and permitted: a single divorce pronounced during a period of purity before he has intercourse with her, or after her pregnancy becomes apparent.