Ibn Majah

1؎ : From this hadith, the majority of scholars and jurists have deduced that if someone pronounces three divorces (talaq) in a single sitting, all three will take effect. There are three other views on this issue: one is that nothing will take effect—not even one, nor three—because giving divorce in this manner is an innovation (bid‘ah) and forbidden (haram). Ibn Hazm has also attributed this view to Imam Ahmad, and stated that this is also the view of the Rawafid. It should be noted that a group of the Tabi‘in held this same view. Among the Ahl al-Bayt, Imam Baqir, Imam Sadiq, and Nasir also held this view, and Abu ‘Ubayd and some of the Zahiri scholars are also proponents of this, because they say that a bid‘ah divorce does not take effect, and this is also a bid‘ah.

The second view is that if the woman has been consummated with (madkhulah), then all three divorces will take effect, and if she has not been consummated with, then only one will take effect. This is the opinion of a group, such as Ibn ‘Abbas and Ishaq ibn Rahwayh, among others.

The third view is that only one revocable divorce (talaq raj‘i) will take effect, whether the woman has been consummated with or not. The most correct view of Ibn ‘Abbas radi Allahu anhuma is this, and Ibn Ishaq, ‘Ata’, ‘Ikrimah, and most of the Ahl al-Bayt are also proponents of this. Among all the views, this is the correct one. Imam Shawkani has written a separate treatise on this issue, in which he has presented the evidences of all four views and given preference to the last opinion, and in this era has declared this issue to be a matter of difference.

‘Allamah Ibn al-Qayyim rahimahullah states that it is authentic and established from the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam that when three divorces were given at once, only one divorce would take effect during the Prophetic era, and during the era of Abu Bakr radi Allahu anhu, and at the beginning of the caliphate of ‘Umar radi Allahu anhu. ‘Umar radi Allahu anhu, in order to discipline the people, issued the fatwa that all three divorces would take effect, and this was his ijtihad, which cannot be a proof against others—especially when the fatwa of the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam and Abu Bakr radi Allahu anhu cannot be rejected by his ijtihad. Ibn al-Qayyim has discussed this issue at length in Ighathat al-Lahfan, and has established that in this situation, only one divorce will take effect.

Imam Shawkani says: This is also transmitted from Abu Musa al-Ash‘ari, Ibn ‘Abbas, Tawus, ‘Ata’, Jabir ibn Zayd, Ahmad ibn ‘Isa, ‘Abdullah ibn Musa, ‘Ali, and Zayd ibn ‘Ali. Shaykh al-Islam Ibn Taymiyyah and Imam Ibn al-Qayyim both inclined to this view, and Ibn Mughith in Kitab al-Watha’iq has transmitted the same from ‘Ali, Ibn Mas‘ud, ‘Abd al-Rahman ibn ‘Awf, and Zubayr radi Allahu anhum, and a group of the shaykhs of Qurtubah. Ibn Mundhir has narrated the same from the companions of Ibn ‘Abbas radi Allahu anhuma, that among all the hadiths that have come in this chapter, the hadith of Ibn ‘Abbas radi Allahu anhuma is the most authentic, which is in Sahih Muslim: that three divorces during the time of the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam, the caliphate of Abu Bakr radi Allahu anhu, and the beginning of the caliphate of ‘Umar radi Allahu anhu were counted as one divorce. When the era of ‘Umar radi Allahu anhu came and people began to give repeated divorces, ‘Umar radi Allahu anhu enforced all three divorces upon them.

‘Allamah Ibn al-Qayyim, in his research on this issue, has taken evidence from the Book (Qur’an), the Sunnah, the language, and the practice of the Companions, and then said that the Book of Allah, the Sunnah of the Messenger of Allah, the language, and the custom all indicate this. During the caliphate of the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam, his successor, and for three years during the caliphate of ‘Umar radi Allahu anhu, people continued upon this. If one were to count them, their number would exceed a thousand; some acknowledged it, some remained silent. And as for those who say that from the time of ‘Umar radi Allahu anhu onwards, people made consensus (ijma‘) on his fatwa, this is not established. In every era, scholars continued to give fatwa according to the fatwa of the earliest period. The scholar of the Ummah, ‘Abdullah ibn ‘Abbas radi Allahu anhuma, gave fatwa according to the narrated hadith. This was transmitted by Hammad ibn Zayd from Ayyub, from ‘Ikrimah, from Ibn ‘Abbas radi Allahu anhuma, that when someone said in one instance: “You are divorced three times,” only one divorce would take effect. Zubayr ibn al-‘Awwam and ‘Abd al-Rahman ibn ‘Awf radi Allahu anhuma also gave the same fatwa; this was transmitted by Ibn Waddah. Among the Tabi‘in, ‘Ikrimah and Tawus gave the same fatwa, and among the Tabi‘ al-Tabi‘in, Muhammad ibn Ishaq and Khallas ibn ‘Amr al-Hijri gave the same fatwa, and among the followers of the Tabi‘ al-Tabi‘in, Dawud ibn ‘Ali and most of his companions gave the same fatwa. In short, in every era, scholars and imams continued to give fatwa in accordance with this view, and this view has never been abandoned by consensus, nor could it be, since it is established from the Book, the Sunnah, analogy (qiyas), and the ancient consensus, and no later consensus has invalidated it. However, ‘Umar radi Allahu anhu, due to a particular benefit, adopted a contrary opinion, and his decision cannot be a proof against others. It is the responsibility of every Muslim that when an authentic hadith is found, he should act upon it and not accept anyone’s fatwa or analogy in opposition to it, whoever it may be.

For further details on this issue, refer to “I‘lam al-Muwaqqi‘in,” “Ighathat al-Lahfan,” the treatise of Shawkani, “Nayl al-Awtar,” “Misk al-Khitam,” “Sunan Ibn Majah” with the marginal notes of Mawlana Waheed al-Zaman Hyderabadi. Also, a treatise has been published in Urdu under the name “Tasmiyat al-Muftin,” in which a large number of ancient and modern scholars are mentioned who consider three divorces as one. (Fariwai)