Question:
A man gets into an argument with his wife and out of anger, he tells her (by way of condition), “If you want to go, then go once! I give you talaq, I give you talaq, I give you talaq!” Nevertheless, the wife doesn’t leave the house. What will be the ruling of this marriage?
بِسْمِ اللهِ الرَّحْمنِ الرَّحِيْم
In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful
Answer
According to what was mentioned in the query, three talaqs will occur irrespective of his intention because intention is not taken into consideration when the words of talaq are mentioned clearly (Fatawa Darul Uloom Zakariyya: v. 4, p. 43-44 [ZamZam]). Also, the sentence that was used for issuing the divorce is not a conditional sentence, therefore it would not be considered a *talaq muallaq* (conditional divorce). A conditional sentence consists of a conditional clause and the consequence. The only apparent conditional sentence is the statement ‘If you want to go (conditional clause), then go once (consequence)!’ The sentences of *talaq *that were used are independent clauses and free of any conditions, thus the *talaqs* will take effect.
Moulana Ashraf Ali Thanwi (r.a.) elaborates on this matter, “If a man issues three divorces to his wife, she becomes completely forbidden to him. Even if they renew their nikah, it will be unlawful for the woman to live with him. This nikah will not be valid irrespective of whether the three divorces were issued in clear terms or in vague terms. If a woman who has been issued three divorces wishes to live with her first husband and wishes to marry him, there is only one way in doing this. That is, she will have to marry another man, engage in sexual intercourse with him, and when he dies or divorces her, she must complete her 'iddah. Upon completing her 'iddah, she can remarry her first husband. Without marrying a second man, she cannot remarry her first husband. If she marries a second man, but he dies before he could engage in sexual intercourse with her or divorced her before engaging in sexual intercourse with her, then this will not be considered. She can only marry her first husband when her second husband has intercourse with her. Without this intercourse, she cannot remarry her first husband. Understand this well.” (Bahishti Zewar: p. 398 [Darul-Ishaat])
Only Allah knows best
Written by Maulana Mohammad Ahsan Osmani
Checked and approved by Mufti Mohammed Tosir Miah
Darul Ifta Birmingham