Ila': the oath not to approach one's wife
What ila' is, what happens if the husband keeps or breaks his oath, and the expiation due for breaking it.
Ila' is when a husband swears an oath that he will not be intimate with his wife for four months or more. If he keeps that oath the whole time, it actually ends the marriage on its own.
Ila' is swearing an oath not to approach or have intercourse with one's wife for four months or more - for example, saying to the wife, "By Allah, I will not approach you for four months."
If the husband breaks his oath by having intercourse with his wife within the four months, he must give expiation for breaking the oath. If he keeps to his oath and does not have intercourse with her for the full four months, one minor irrevocable divorce occurs.
The expiation (kaffarah) for breaking the oath
- Freeing a slave, or
- Feeding ten poor persons two meals each, or
- Clothing ten poor persons.
- If none of these is possible, fasting three consecutive days instead - provided it is not on days when fasting is prohibited.
Īlāʾ is an oath (yamīn) not to approach or have intercourse with one's wife for four months or more - e.g. "By Allah, I will not approach you for four months."
Where the husband breaks the oath by intercourse within the four months, kaffārat al-yamīn (expiation for breaking an oath) becomes due. Where he adheres to the oath for the full four months without intercourse, one ṭalāq bāʾin khafīfah occurs automatically, without any further pronouncement.
Kaffārah for breaking the oath
- Freeing a slave, or
- Feeding ten needy persons two meals each, or
- Clothing ten needy persons.
- Failing all of these, fasting three consecutive days - provided the days are not among those on which fasting is forbidden.
Terms on this page
Related
- Zihar and li'an Zihar, where a husband compares his wife to a woman he could never marry, and li'an, the mutual oath procedure that follows an unproven accusation of adultery.
- What breaks a fast: qada, kaffarah, or nothing at all Which acts break a fast and only need making up, which need making up plus an expiation, and which do not break the fast at all.
- The waiting period (iddah) after divorce or death Why a wife must wait before remarrying, and how long the wait is for a divorced, widowed, pregnant, or never-consummated wife.
- The kinds of divorce: ahsan, hasan, and bid'ah The prescribed (sunnah) methods of giving divorce - ahsan and hasan - set against the innovated (bid'ah) methods that go against them.