Fatwa ID: 02486
Answered by: Maulana Javed ibn Nazir Kachhalia
Question:
What is the minimum level of voice that makes the divorce statementstake effect?
Will divorce happen in these two situations:
1. If he is give divorce statement them in his mouth where his tongue moves and his lips move but NO HEAREABLE SOUND comes out from his mouth.
2. Same as above but some slight sound like muttering comes out but it is so low that even person standing next to him will not understand what he said.
So please clarify that what is the minimum level of voice that will cause divorce and whether any of the situations mentioned above will cause divorce?
Answer
بسم الله الرحمن الرحي
In regards to your query and abovementioned questions; its important to understand few points:
- When issuing a divorce it’s not necessary for the wife to be physically present (Fatawa Darul Uloom Deoband, Vol 9, Pg 41)- Extracted from ‘Raddul Mukhtar Vol 2, Pg 590, The Chapter of Sareeh’.
- To issue a divorce, the husband can do that in isolation also. There is no need of witnesses to be present (Fatawa Darul Uloom Deoband, Vol 9, Pg 48)- Extracted from ‘Raddul Mukhtar, Vol 2, Pg 373, Kitabun Nikah’.
Now, going in to your query:
- When issuing a divorce or saying the words of divorce, a person utter it in such a way that the tongue moved but it wasn’t hereable at all not even to himself, then divorce wont take place. Extraceted from ‘Maraqil Falah- Sharh Nurul Idha, Pg 291, Chapter of Condition of Salaah. (Fatawa Mahmoodiyyah, Vol 12, Pg 249, Darul Ifta Jamiah Farooqiyah)
- Therefore, from the above we can conclude that, if the was said and uttered with a sound that the person himself has heard it, then divorce and talaq will take place.
If he said it once, it will be ‘Talaaq Rajie’, in which he can retreat and take his wife back before the iddat is concluded, without renewing the nikah.
Only Allah knows best.
Javed ibn Nazir Kachhalia
Student Darul Ilm, Birmingham (Darul Ifta Department)
