Husband said to his wife in an argument “I divorce you” (just to scare her). Then he said “I give you talak” and “Are you happy I gave you Talak?”. How many talaks took place?

Question:

Me and my wife had an argument and i gave her Talak, One in English (I Divorce you) with the intention that it is in English so it will not be valid, just to scare her; and second was in Arabic that “I give you Talak” then i said to her “Are you happy that i gave you Talak”. Is this considered as 3 Talak?

Further information about the statement “Are you happy that i gave you Talak”:

In my heart was to ask her question whether she is happy that “I gave her Talak” through second statement.

Answer:

In the Name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful.

Two revocable divorces (talaq raj’ee) took place in total. The detail of this is as follows:

When you uttered “I divorce you”, one talaq raj’ee (revocable divorce) took place, even though you thought that by uttering this statement talaq does not take place.

When you uttered “I give you talak” another talaq raj’ee took place.

As for your statement to your wife “Are you happy that I gave you Talak”, since you did not intend to give another talaq with this statement (instead you were asking your wife if she was happy with the talaq you issued through your second statement), talaq did not take place due to this statement.

Hence, two revocable divorces (talaq raj’ee) took place in total. That means that you are allowed to take your wife back before her iddah (waiting period) expires. The best method of taking one’s wife back after giving revocable divorce is to say to her in the presence of two witnesses “I am going to maintain you as my wife and I will not let you go” or “I am taking you back into my nikah”.

If, however, you do not take her back during her iddah and her iddah expires, then you can only have her back with a new nikah.

In the future, be extremely careful about issuing another divorce, because if you issue one more divorce, your wife will become forbidden for you and you will not be able to marry her again without halaala. [1]

And Allah knows best.

Mufti Faizal Riza
5/6/2012
Darul Ifta Australia
www.mufti-online.net

Answer approved by:

Mufti Ebrahim Desai
Mufti Husain Kadodia
Mufti Emran Vawda
(Darul Iftaa, Sherwood, Durban, South Africa)

________________________

 

[1] الفصل الأول في الطلاق الصريح: وهو كأنت طالق ومطلقة وطلقتك وتقع واحدة رجعية وإن نوى الأكثر أو الإبانة أو لم ينو شيئا كذا في الكنر ( الفتاوى الهندية: 1/389 ، دار الكتب العلمية )

 

و لو قال لها أنت طالق ثم قال لها يا مطلقة لا تقع أخرى ( الفتاوى الهندية: 1/390 ، دار الكتب العلمية )

 

و لو قال لها أنت طالق ثم قال لها يا مطلقة لا يقع أخرى لأنه صادق في مقالته ( المحيط البرهاني: 4/394 ، إدارة القرآن )

 

رجل قال لامرأته يا مطلقة إن لم يكن لها زوج قبل أو كان لها زوج لكن مات ذلك الزوج ولم يطلق وقع الطلاق عليها وإن كان لها زوج قبله وقد كان طلقها ذلك الزوج إن لم ينو بكلامه الإخبار طلقت وإن قال عنيت به الإخبار دين فيما بينه وبين الله تعالى وهل يدين في القضاء اختلفت الروايات فيه والصحيح أنه يدين  ( الفتاوى الهندية: 1/389 ، دار الكتب العلمية )

 

( انظر: فتاوى محمودية: 12/343 ط فاروقية؛ خير الفتاوى: 5/62 ط مكتبة إمدادية؛ فتاوى عثماني: 2/331؛ بهيشتي زيور:1/463 )

 

Disclaimer

Jamiatul Ulama of Victoria have placed articles and answers to questions for public view for educational purposes. However, many of these answers are unique to a particular scenario and cannot be taken as a basis to establish a ruling in another situation or another environment. Jamiatul Ulama of Victoria bears no responsibility with regards to these answers/articles being used out of their intended context. Any Shariah ruling herein given is based specifically on the question posed and should be read in conjunction with the question. Jamiatul Ulama of Victoria bears no responsibility to any party who may or may not act on this article or answer to a question posed and being hereby exempted from loss or damage howsoever caused. This answer may not be used as evidence in any Court of Law without prior written consent of Jamiatul Ulama of Victoria. Any or all links provided in our emails, answers and articles are restricted to the specific material being cited. Such referencing should not be taken as an endorsement of other contents of that website.