Fatwa ID: 05450

Answered by: Shaykh Ahmed Bin Mohamed Umarji

Question:

Hello, My husband gave me 3 divorces on 3 different occasions, first, one being in front of my father and saying it to him in anger “I give you divorce”, as he had an argument with him. I was expecting it at that time and since it was the first one, I reconciled with him right after. I separated from my husband in Jan 2020 and he gave me two more divorces following that, the first one over text message soon after and the second one was over email. Soon after the email, he said he takes it back and he did not mean it and it all depends on the husband’s intention, so it is not valid. Even for the first one, he justifies it by saying that he said it to my father out of anger and not me, so he did not mean it and he did not realize what he was saying in the heat of the moment.

Until this day he does not believe it has been 3 divorces and that we can still get back together. Please clarify if the nikkah is still valid or not. 

In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful

Answer:

The jurists state that the woman is like a judge. Since you heard your husband issuing the divorces with your own ears, you must separate yourself from your husband. If this is difficult to do and your husband is neither prepared to release you nor agree to a khula‛, you will have to present your case before a Shari‛ah judge or arbitrator. Since there is no witness, your husband will have to take an oath. If he takes an oath, you will be able to live with him and the sin will rest on his shoulders.^[1][2]

Only Allah knows best

Written by Shaykh Ahmed Bin Mohamed Umarji

Checked and approved by Mufti Mohammed Tosir Miah

Darul Ifta Birmingham

[1] Fatawa Darul Uloom Zakariyya Volume 4 Page 97

[2] (سمعت من زوجها أنه طلقها ولا تقدر على منعه من نفسها) إلا بقتله (لها قتله) بدواء خوف القصاص، ولا تقتل نفسها. وقال الاوزجندي ترفع الامر للقاضي، فإن حلف ولا بينة فالاثم عليه،

الدر المختار شرح تنوير الأبصار وجامع البحار – صفحة:٢٣١ –  دار الكتب العلمية