He Swore an Oath of Divorce so That He Would not Return to Something, Then He returned to it

Question :

A young married man used to practice some act forbidden by the Islamic Law and one day, he swore that he would not do this thing again. He said: "My wife will be divorced if I did this again." He also said: "If I do this thing again, my wife will be as my mother to me." He repented to Allah for a while, but he went to the place where the forbidden thing was and the devil caused him to commit sin. After he committed the sin, he had sexual intercourse with his wife and she became pregnant. Now I am requesting clarification of the rulings of the Islamic Law along with the atonement, and (of) what is incumbent upon him.

Answer:

If his intention was to prevent himself from doing that forbidden thing and sin, and he had no desire to part from his wife, and he made the divorce conditional upon him doing that forbidden thing, then he must make the atonement for a broken or unfulfilled oath regarding the divorce, as well as the atonement for Zihar for his saying: "My wife will be as my mother to me."

He should cease having sexual intercourse with his wife until he has fulfilled both forms of atonement. The atonement for an oath is to choose between freeing a slave and feeding ten poor persons or clothing them. Whoever is unable to do these things , he must fast for three (consecutive) days. The atonement for Zihar is to free a slave; and whoever is unable to do this, he must fast for two consecutive months. Whoever is unable to do this, then he must feed sixty poor persons.

However, if he actually intended divorce, and he had become averse to his wife and so desired to make this sin a sign of parting, then she is divorced from him once, and he may take her back if she is still in her waiting period. And it is incumbent upon him to protect himself from this sin as well as other sins.

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