He said to his wife: You are divorced when we go back to our country
Question

                I was travelling with my husband and we had an argument. He said: You are divorced when we go back to our country. We have come back now. Does this divorce count as such?.
Praise be to Allah.
    If the husband said to the wife: You are divorced when we go 
    back to our country, then the divorce takes effect when you return to your 
    country, because this is what he meant, i.e., it was not intended to 
    encourage or discourage, or to confirm or deny, rather it is like when a 
    person says: “When the first day of the month comes”, or “when Ramadan 
    comes”, or “when the ruler comes, then my wife is divorced.” By saying these 
    words, your husband did not intend to prevent you or prevent himself from 
    returning to his country, nor did he intend to encourage you to stay outside 
    your country; what he meant was divorce. 

    If we assume that he said: “I meant that I would divorce you 
    after we came back”, this is not acceptable either, because by saying “You 
    are divorced”, clearly using the word divorce (talaaq), it cannot be 
    accepted that what he meant and intended was a threat of divorce. 

    As for the statement of divorce which is intended to stop 
    someone doing something, such as saying, “You are divorced if you go out of 
    the house”, intending to prevent her going out, or that which is intended to 
    encourage her to do something, such as saying, “You are divorced if you do 
    not come back to the house,” this is a statement of divorce concerning which 
    the scholars differed. The majority of them are of the view that divorce 
    does take place when the thing stipulated happens, but a number of them are 
    of the view that divorce does not take place, because he did not intend to 
    divorce her, rather he intended to encourage her to do something or prevent 
    her from doing something. 

    Ibn Qudaamah (may Allaah have mercy on him) narrated that 
    al-Qaadi Abu Ya’la said, speaking of an oath to divorce and differentiating 
    between that and a statement of divorce that is intended as such: This is 
    his stipulating a condition by means of which he intends to encourage her to 
    do something, or prevent her from doing something, such as saying, “If you 
    enter the house then you are divorced”, or “if you do not enter the house 
    then you are divorced.” 

    With regard to a statement of divorce other than that, such 
    as saying, “You are divorced when the sun rises”, or “when the pilgrim comes 
    back”, or “if the ruler does not come,” this is a statement of divorce which 
    is intended as such and is not an oath.  

    End quote from al-Mughni, 7/333 
Shaykh Ibn Baaz (may 
    Allaah have mercy on him) said: An oath to divorce is a statement of divorce 
    by means of which the person intends to encourage (his wife) to do 
    something, or to prevent her from doing something, or to urge his listeners 
    to believe him or disbelieve him. This is the oath to divorce which is 
    intended to encourage or discourage something, or to confirm or deny 
    something, unlike a statement of divorce which is intended as such, which 
    cannot be regarded as an oath, such as saying, “When the sun rises, my wife 
    is divorced,” or “When Ramadaan comes, my wife is divorced.” This is not 
    described as an oath (yameen), rather it is simply a statement of divorce in 
    which a condition is stipulated, and when the stipulated event takes place, 
    the divorce comes into effect. If he says for example, “When Ramadaan comes 
    my wife is divorced,” then the divorce takes effect when Ramadaan begins. If 
    he says, “When the sun rises, my wife is divorced,” then the divorce takes 
    effect when the sun rises. 

    And he said: But if there is no encouragement or 
    discouragement, rather it is simply stipulating a condition, then this is a 
    statement of divorce in which the divorce counts as such, as stated above, 
    such as if he says: “When the month of Ramadaan begins then my wife is 
    divorced.” This is stipulating a condition, and when that happens the 
    divorce takes effect, because the thing that is attached to a condition 
    takes effect when the condition comes to pass. This is the basic principle.” 
    End quote from Fataawa al-Talaaq, p. 129-131 
The Standing Committee 
    was asked about a man who said to his wife: When your period comes then you 
    are purified, then you are divorced, but after that he decided to keep his 
    wife and not divorce her. 
They replied: This is a 
    divorce that is connected to a stipulated condition, and he did not intend 
    thereby to encourage her to do something or prevent her from doing 
    something, so the divorce takes effect when that condition comes to pass, 
    which is her purification after her menses. Recanting this condition after 
    it has come to pass is not valid. End quote.

    Fataawa la-Lajnah al-Daa’imah, 
    20/174 

    And Allaah knows best.