Does the statement 'You are divorced if Allah wills' result in a divorce?
Chapter on Explicit Divorce and Others
Al-Mughni
Book of Divorce
Primary text
Divorce is effective when a man states to his wife, 'You are divorced if Allah wills' (Anti Taliq in sha Allah). This ruling is held by Ahmad in one narration, along with Sa'id ibn al-Musayyib, Al-Hasan, Mak'hul, Qatadah, Al-Zuhri, Malik, Al-Layth, Al-Awza'i, and Abu Ubayd. The evidence supporting this view is the narration by Abu Jami'ah, who heard Ibn Abbas say that if a man tells his wife, 'You are divorced if Allah wills,' she is divorced. Furthermore, there is a narration from Abu Burdah similar to this. The argument is further strengthened because the statement is an instance of imposing a condition (*insha'*) and not strictly an oath (*yamin*). The will of Allah concerning the divorce is established by the human agent initiating its cause.
Supporting text
A dissenting opinion, supported by another narration from Ahmad, holds that the divorce does not occur, which is also the view of Tawus, Al-Hakam, Abu Hanifa, and Al-Shafi'i. This view asserts that since the divorce is suspended upon a will whose existence is not known, it does not take effect, similar to suspending it upon the will of Zayd. They rely on the Hadith stating that whoever swears an oath and says 'If Allah wills' is not considered to have broken his oath (reported by Al-Tirmidhi, who deemed it Hasan). This view also argues that the statement is suspending the effect upon a will that cannot be known, or that the exception (Istithna') that negates the entirety of the divorce is invalid, like saying, 'You are divorced by three, except three.'