A man who swears by divorce or manumission over something, then forgets and does it

Al-Hasan used to say: If a man says, 'If I enter the house of so-and-so, my wife is divorced,' and then he enters that house forgetfully, or enters it without knowing, it will be treated like entering deliberately. However, if he made an exception for forgetfulness when swearing (saying: 'unless I forget'), then the divorce will not take effect.

Abdullah bin Uthman (may Allah have mercy on him) said: My brother Umar bin Uthman (may Allah have mercy on him) swore that if he drank from the hand of a certain slave-girl before a certain term, she would be free. Then he forgot before the term was complete and drank from her hand. I asked Ata, Mujahid, Sa'id bin Jubayr and Ali al-Azdi about this, and all of them said that she is free.

Yahya bin Sulaym (may Allah have mercy on him) said: Ibn Jurayj narrated this report to us, and he denied that Ata held that anything (any consequence) follows from forgetfulness.

He said: And Ata said: It has reached me that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "Allah has overlooked for my Ummah three things: mistakes, forgetfulness, and what they are coerced into."

Al-Zuhri (may Allah have mercy on him) and Umar bin Abd al-Aziz (may Allah have mercy on him) used to regard a divorce given in forgetfulness as taking effect.

And it is reported from Umar bin Abd al-Aziz that they both (he and al-Zuhri) used to hold that a divorce given in forgetfulness is binding.

The companions of Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Mas'ud (may Allah be pleased with him) used to regard this divorce as taking effect.