The Ruling on Pronouncing Divorce Thrice by Various Expressions

From 'Abdul-'Aziz bin 'Abdullah bin Baz

To the dear brother M. H. may Allah increase him in knowledge and faith, and make him blessed wherever he may be - Ameen.

May the Peace, mercy and blessings of Allah be upon you. As for what follows:

Your kind letter, dated Ist Muharram 1395 A. H. reached me -may Allah grant you guidance - I was pleased to hear of your good health all praise and thanks be to Allah for that. Regarding your desire to know our view concerning the method of inviting (people to Islam), there is none better than that to which Allah directs us in His Words:
"And who is better in speech than he who [says: "My Lord is Allah (believes in His Oneness)," and then stands firm (acts upon His Order), and invites (men) to Allah's (Islamic Monotheism), and does righteous deeds, and says: "I am one of the Muslims."

and in the Words of Him, Most Glorified:

"Say (O Muhammad): "This is my way; I invite unto Allah (i.e. to the Oneness of Allah Islamic Monotheism) with sure knowledge, I and whosoever follows me (also must invite others to Allah, ie, to the Oneness of Allah Islamic Monotheism with sure knowledge).

and in the Words of Him, the Almighty, the All-Powerful:
"Invite (mankind, O Muhammad) to the way of your Lord (i.e. Islām) with wisdom (i.e. with the Divine Revelation and the Qur'an) and fair preaching, and argue with them in a way that is better."

So we advise you to proceed in the light of these Verses, with patience and forbearance, avoiding severity and harshness, because this causes aversion to acceptance of the truth, as is well known. And we ask Allah that He help you and bless your endeavors, and that He make all of us among those who call to (correct) guidance and the supporters of the truth. Verily, He is the Best One to ask.

As for the ruling on pronouncing divorce three times, using different expressions, based upon what has become clear to me from the evidences it requires clarification. The scholars have explained it according to the different reasons for the repetition. The majority of the scholars hold that three pronouncements of divorce upon the wife are counted, if she was in her waiting period-whether the husband pronounced them in one word or in a number of words-unless he pronounced it in words which might be interpreted to mean that he intended only to emphasis it by the second or the third repetition, such as by saying: "You are Taliq. Taliq, Taliq!" or: "You are Mutallaqah, Mutallaqah, Mutallagah!" or other such expressions.

In such cases, the divorce upon his wife is not counted except as one, and the second and third repetitions are considered emphasis for the first, if the husband did not intend to pronounce divorce three times, but only said it for the purpose of emphasis, or to make the woman understand, or he did not mean anything by it, but repeated it out of anger or for some other reason, without intending to pronounce three divorces.

However, if his words cannot be interpreted as emphasis, such as his saying: "(You are) Taliq, then Taliq, then Taliq!" or: "You are Taliq and Taliq and Taliq!" and other such sayings, then this is counted as three divorces, according to the majority of scholars and likewise his saying: "You are Taliq, you are Taliq, you are Taliq." or: "You are Mutallaqah, you are Mutallagah, you are Mutallaqah!"

In Taliq and Mutallaqah: Divorced.

In such cases, it is considered by the majority to be like the examples mentioned before it, unless he intended by it to emphasize it or to make her understand by saying: "You are Taliq, you are Taliq, you are Taliq!" or: "You are Mutallaqah, you are Mutallaqah, you are Mutallaqah!"

The preferred view of Shaikh Al-Islam, Taqiy Ad-Deen Ibn Taimiyyah may Allah have mercy on him was that only one divorce is counted by all of these different expressions, just as if he pronounced divorce thrice upon her simultaneously, and he cited as evidence for this the Hadith of Ibn 'Abbas, may Allah be pleased with them, which is narrated in Sahih Muslim and whose wording is: "In the time of the Prophet ﷺ and in the time of Abu Bakr, may Allah be pleased with him and for two years during the Caliphate of "Umar, may Allah be pleased with him, three pronouncements of divorce were considered one, and "Umar, may Allah be pleased with him said: 'Verily the people have been impatient in a matter in which they should be patient, so if we carried it. t upon the people (it would be better).' So he carried it out upon them."

There are other wordings for this narration reported by Muslim and others. And Shaikh Al-Islam Ibn Taimiyyah may Allah have mercy on him-explained the ruling on this matter in his books, the most complete of which was transmitted from him by Shaikh Abdur-Rahman bin Qasim in Majmu' Al-Fatawa and he - may Allah have mercy on him-considered that the second. pronouncement of divorce on the woman is not counted, unless it was pronounced after she was married or after she was returned to him following divorce and likewise, the third pronouncement. But I do not know of any clear evidence upon which one may depend on, except the generality of the aforementioned Hadith of Ibn 'Abbas, may Allah be pleased. with them, and his other Hadith regarding the story of Abu Rukanah, may Allah be pleased with him, and they are not unequivocal with regard to this matter.

The verdict which I have given for the last thirty years or more.

is that (the pronouncement of) three divorces are only counted as one, if the husband pronounced them simultaneously, because this is the narrowest interpretation of the two aforementioned Hadiths of Ibn 'Abbas, may Allah be pleased with them. Likewise, all of these expressions, only one divorce is counted by them, according to the most correct view, if the husband intended divorce by them, because they are weaker than the pronouncement of divorce thrice in one saying: so if it was permissible to consider it one divorce, it would be more obligatory for the expression to be considered one, as long as he did not repeat it.

Al-'Allamah Ibn Al-Qayyim may Allah have mercy on him - has spoken at length on this matter in I'lam Al-Muwaqi'in, Zad Al-Ma'ad and Ighatah Al-Lahfan.

All of this in case the husband was rational and acting of his own free will at the time when he pronounced the divorce. As for one who is coerced, or is not rational or has a fierce temper which alters his rationality, then their divorce is not counted, as is well known.

However, if the anger is intense, but it does not diminish his rationality, there is a well known difference of opinion among the scholars over whether or not the divorce is counted.

As for slight anger, it does not prevent divorce being counted, according to the consensus of the Muslims. Thus it is clear to you that anger falls into three categories:

In the first case, rationality and sense are removed by it and in this case, the divorce is not counted according to the consensus of the scholars, as is the case with the divorce of an insane person, a feeble-minded person or a person whose rationality is lost. These are excused of responsibility for their actions, and likewise the sinning drunkard, according to the most author- itative of two opinions held by the scholars, if he knew that he had pronounced divorce when he was drunk and his rationality was altered.

The second case is when the anger is intense and he is compelled to divorce, but his senses are not altered by it. In this case there is a difference of opinion but what seems most clear is that the divorce is not counted in this situation, and this was the choice of Shaikh Al-Islam Ibn Taimiyyah and his student, Ibn Al- Qayyim (may Allah have mercy on them both). Ibn Al-Qayyim (may Allah have mercy on him) wrote a small treatise on this, which he called: Ighathah Al-Lahfan Fi Hukm Talaqil-Ghadhban, which is well-written and most beneficial.

The third situation is when the anger is slight and this does not prevent the divorce being counted, according to the consensus. of the scholars and Allah, Most Glorified, Most High knows best. And may the peace, mercy and blessings of Allah be upon you.