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A man should not use divorce as a threat tool every time there is an argument between him and his wife because of the negative consequences that result from divorce.
Many men take the matter of divorce lightly. Every time they argue with their wives, they swear to divorce them. Every time they disagree with their friends, they swear to divorce their wives, and so on.
Al-Nasaa’i narrated that Mahmoud ibn Labeed said: The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) was told about a man who divorced his wife three times in one go. He got up angrily and said: “Will the Book of Allah be toyed with when I am still among you?” A man stood up and said: “O Messenger of Allah, shall I kill him?”
The majority of scholars are of the view that this divorce counts as such when the condition mentioned is fulfilled.
Some scholars—Shaykh al-Islam Ibn Taymiyah and others who favored this view—believed that this condition is subject to further discussion and depends on the intention of the one who said it.
When he said that statement if he intended to threaten and stop his wife from doing something, then it comes under the ruling on oaths, and no divorce takes place, but he must offer the expiation for breaking an oath when it is broken.
If he intended to truly divorce his wife, if she disobeys him and does what he prohibited her from doing, then she will be divorced when the condition is fulfilled.
The husband knew his exact intention when he stipulated that statement, which is between him and Allah.
