the three pronouncements had been completed, then you have no right to take her back until she first marries another husband in a genuine marriage, and he later divorces her of his own free will.

As for her statement that you are forbidden to her “as her brother is forbidden,” the soundest view among the scholars is that such wording takes the ruling of an oath. She must therefore offer the expiation for breaking an oath: emancipate a slave, or feed ten poor people—each poor person receiving half a sâʿ of staple food—or clothe ten poor people, giving each of them a garment sufficient for prayer. If she cannot manage any of these three options, she must fast for three days.

My advice to both of you is to steer clear of such expressions and not let anger drive you to utter them, for this is from Satan and may place you in a predicament from which you cannot easily escape.

***

Question: A heated argument took place between my wife and me while we were in our homeland. She said words that made me extremely angry, so I swore an oath that if she travelled to any foreign country she would no longer remain under my care or be my wife. She has now been here in the Kingdom for two months. Is she still counted as my wife, or has my oath taken effect? What must I do to take her back?

Answer: If your purpose in swearing this oath of divorce was simply to keep yourself from travelling to another country, and you did not intend to make the divorce contingent upon her actual travel, then it is treated as an oath. Consequently, if you do travel to another country you must pay the expiation for breaking an oath.

The expiation for an oath, as set out in the Quran, is to free a slave or to feed ten—