Question
Question: In some regions one hears phrases like: “Do not enter so-and-so’s house; and if you enter, then your entering is your divorce,” and like: “If I do not sell such-and-such by Thursday, then it is your divorce.” What is the ruling on such phrases?
Answer
The answer—and Allah is the One who grants success and aid: Divorce is of two types: explicit and euphemistic, and each has specific expressions which the jurists have listed in their books, such as Sharḥ al-Azhār, al-Baḥr al-Zakhkhār, and the like. Both explicit wording and euphemism may be conditioned or unconditioned. What is mentioned in the question is not among the expressions they have listed for explicit wording or euphemism.
Accordingly, what appears to me is that what is mentioned in the question does not constitute a divorce—whether conditioned, as in the example given, or unconditioned. So if a man were to say to his wife, “Your standing is your divorce,” saying this to her while she is standing or the like, it would not be a divorce—neither explicit nor euphemistic—for standing and sitting, their absence, and similar acts and omissions do not constitute explicit or euphemistic divorce.
If it be said: In the two examples the explicit word “your divorce” occurs, and he has attributed divorce to the wife—so that should be explicit divorce.
We say: The explicit word of divorce in the question has been made by the speaker as a predicate about the entering and the like; and it is invalid to make any act or omission itself a divorce. As noted earlier, divorce is explicit or euphemistic, and none of the acts or omissions is an explicit or euphemistic divorce.
Yes, such “divorces” are common in al-Jawf; likewise, “Ḥarām wa ṭalāq—I will not do such-and-such.” All of that is not a divorce, because a valid explicit wording or euphemism of divorce must fall upon the woman by verbal expression, not by intention. If one mentions the word “divorce” stripped of mentioning the woman, it is not a divorce—even if he intended the woman.
Source : Min Thimār al-ʿIlm wa al-Ḥikmah vol.1
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