He replied:

If he believed that saying, “Divorce shall be binding upon me, if Allah wills,” would not cause divorce to take effect, and his purpose was to frighten her with these words rather than to effect a divorce, then no divorce took effect.

If he said, “If Allah wills,” on that occasion, then according to the position of Abū Hanīfa and al-Shāfiʿī, divorce made conditional upon Allah’s will does not take effect. According to the position of Mālik and Ahmad, it does take effect, as is also reported from Ibn ʿAbbās. However, since this man intended and believed that no divorce would take effect, he understood these words as words that did not effect a divorce. Thus, he did not intend to pronounce divorce.

When a speaker deliberately utters words which he does not believe will effect a divorce—as when a non-Arabic speaker utters an expression without understanding its meaning—no divorce takes effect. By contrast, divorce pronounced in jest takes effect because the speaker intended to pronounce divorce, even though he did not intend to bring it into effect. This man intended neither.

His case resembles that of a man who sees a woman and says, “You are divorced,” thinking her to be a woman other than his wife, only to discover that she is his wife. According to the correct view, no divorce takes effect thereby. And Allah knows best.