Question:
What do scholars of Islam and experts in Sharia say regarding my situation? I gave my wife talaq 3 times as I had lost control of my senses.
We reconciled before the iddat period as I believed we were still married as I can not recall the exact words I used to divorce her. I had to ring my sister in law to find out my exact words to see if we are divorced or not as she was on the phone whilst I was giving my wife talaq. My question is can we rely on my sister in laws statement that I had given my wife irrevocable talaq into consideration as I do not know if I said it in the manner she is saying. I have been told that based on her statement we have been irrevocably divorced.
Please clarify.
Answer:
In the scenario mentioned, the ruling will be of only one divorce taking place. As described, in divorce, the word of the husband is valid.
As far as the matter is concerned, will three divorces in one sitting result in one or three divorces taking place? Three divorces in one sitting will be counted as one divorce .
It has been narrated that Sayyiduna Rukana divorced his wife three times. The Prophet ﷺ was informed of this and Rukana said: “By Allah, I only intended one.” The Messenger of Allah ﷺ said: “By Allah, do you only mean one divorce?” Rukana replied: “By Allah, I only intended one.” The Prophet ﷺ returned her to him. (Abu Dawud, Tirmidhi, Ibn Majah, Sunan al-Darimi)
The Prophet ﷺ asking Rukana to take an oath regarding the intention behind his saying divorce three times shows that the ruling is not simply taken on face value, rather the scenarios can differ resulting in three divorces counting as one. If a person says divorce three times but intends only one and the other two being for emphasis, then only one divorce will occur. Similarly, if such a scenario was to take place today then the husband will take an oath regarding his intention behind saying divorce three times. If he says he only intended it once then only one will occur.
And Allah ﷻ knows the best
This Fatwa is written by Dr. Musharraf Husain Al-Azhari
