In summary, we hold that he should take the matter to the sharʿī judge or consult the recognised mufti in his locality, present to him all the details of what took place, and—God willing—he will find the correct solution.
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Question: My wife intended to carry out a certain task. At the time I was angry, so I said to her, “If you do that task, you are divorced.” The moment for performing the task had not yet come. A short while later, after my anger had subsided, I gave her permission to go ahead and do it. When the appointed time arrived, she did it. Did the divorce take effect from my first statement, or did my later permission cancel it? Kindly advise me, may God reward you with goodness.

Answer: Your later permission does not cancel the divorce that you swore upon, nor the divorce you made conditional on the fulfilment of the stated condition. Retracting it brings you no benefit; the divorce remains in force. If she does the very thing you wished to prevent her from doing, then:

• If your intention in mentioning divorce was simply to deter her and you did not actually intend to suspend the divorce upon her action, an expiation for breaking an oath is due from you, because such wording is treated as an oath.

• But if your intention, as you stated, was to make the divorce itself contingent on her doing that act, then the divorce takes effect once she does the act upon which you suspended it.

Question: Suppose that when he swore she must not do it, he really had in mind only that she refrain from it during that particular time and did not intend an ongoing prohibition extending into the future?

Answer: If he intended that she not perform the act during a specific, limited period and that period has passed, the oath lapses with the passing of that time. However, if he did not specify any period and simply meant to bar her from the act at any time, then the ruling remains connected to the act: whenever she does it, the stipulated consequence applies.