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Fatwa CenterDifference between conditional divorce and promise of divorce
Question
As-salamu alaikum, i do not understand the difference between conditional divorce and promise of divorce. I have read a few fatawa and sometimes some expressions in the future form count as conditional divorce and sometimes as a promise of divorce, where divorce does not take place.Furthermore if i speak with my wife and we speak about bad behaviour of other women and i would say: "If my wife would do such and such (or if my wife does such and such), i would divorce her ". Is that a conditional divorce or promise of divorce? What is the case, if i do not really intend divorce by that, rather i wanted to show me in a good way, as i would not tolerate such behaviour or that i would be a consequent man.Jazakum Allahu khayran.
Answer
All perfect praise be to Allaah, The Lord of the Worlds. I testify that there is none worthy of worship except Allaah, and that Muhammad, sallallaahu ʻalayhi wa sallam, is His slave and Messenger.
Making something conditional on something else means that the occurrence of the former is dependent on the occurrence of the latter. The Kuwaiti Encyclopedia of Fiqh reads, “A condition according to the jurists is to attach the occurrence of the content of a statement to the occurrence of the content of another statement.” So the husband attaches the occurrence of divorce to the occurrence of a specific thing; once that thing occurs, the divorce takes effect. If that thing does not occur, the divorce does not take effect.
The promise of divorce, on the other hand, is when the husband says that he will carry out the divorce in the future. He pronounces the promise in a future time frame by saying, for example, "I will divorce you", or "I am going to divorce you". If he divorces his wife in the future, i.e. he fulfills his promise, then the divorce takes effect, and if he does not, the divorce does not take effect.
Shaykhul-Islaam Ibn Taymiyyah 
said, “The promise of divorce does not result in divorce, even if the words are many, and it is neither obligatory nor recommended to fulfill this promise.” This means that the husband is not obliged to fulfill such a promise and it is even recommended for him not to fulfill it.
It is worth noting that the promise of divorce could even be made conditional upon the occurrence of something, as it is in the wording mentioned in your question. If the wife does the action upon which you set the condition for the divorce, the you have the choice either to divorce her or retain your marriage bond. Also, the promise of divorce can be without condition, such as if the husband simply says to his wife "I am going to divorce you", or "I will divorce you".
Allaah Knows best.
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