One who counted three as one, and reports to the contrary

Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Abbas (may Allah be pleased with them both) said: In the time of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him), of Sayyiduna Abu Bakr (may Allah be pleased with him), and for the first two years of the caliphate of Sayyiduna Umar (may Allah be pleased with him), three divorces were counted as only one. Sayyiduna Umar bin al-Khattab (may Allah be pleased with him) said: "People have become hasty in a matter in which they had latitude; what if we were to enforce all three divorces?" So Sayyiduna Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) enforced all three.

Abu al-Sahba' said to Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Abbas (may Allah be pleased with them both): Do you know that three divorces used to be counted as one in the time of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) and of Sayyiduna Abu Bakr (may Allah be pleased with him), and as three during the rule of Sayyiduna Umar (may Allah be pleased with him)? Sayyiduna Ibn Abbas (may Allah be pleased with them both) said: Yes.

Abu al-Sahba' said to Ibn Abbas (may Allah be pleased with them both): Tell me from your heart, were three divorces not counted as one in the time of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) and of Abu Bakr (may Allah be pleased with him)? He said: That was so. Then when the time of Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) came, people began giving divorces in succession, so Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) enforced all three divorces.

Ikrimah narrates from Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Abbas (may Allah be pleased with them both) regarding: "Divorced women shall wait concerning themselves for three menstrual periods" [Surah al-Baqarah: 228] up to His words: "And their husbands have more right to take them back" [Surah al-Baqarah: 228]. He said: When a man divorced his wife, he had more right to take her back, even if he had divorced her three times; then that was abrogated, and He said: "Divorce is twice" [Surah al-Baqarah: 229].

Sa'id bin Jubayr (may Allah have mercy on him) said: A man came to Abdullah bin Abbas (may Allah be pleased with them both) and said: I have divorced my wife a thousand times. He said: Take three and leave 997.
(b) Sa'id bin Jubayr (may Allah have mercy on him) narrates from Ibn Abbas (may Allah be pleased with them both) that he said to a man who had divorced his wife three times: She has become unlawful for you.

Mujahid (may Allah have mercy on him) said: A man said to Ibn Abbas (may Allah be pleased with them both): I have divorced my wife one hundred times. He said: Count three and leave the remaining ninety-seven.

Mujahid (may Allah have mercy on him) narrates that Ibn Abbas (may Allah be pleased with them both) was asked about a man who had divorced his wife one hundred times. He said: You have disobeyed your Lord and your wife has separated from you. You did not fear Allah, or Allah would have made a way out for you: "And whoever fears Allah, He will make for him a way out" [Surah al-Talaq: 2], "O Prophet, when you divorce women, divorce them for (the start of) their waiting period" [Surah al-Talaq: 1].

Ata (may Allah have mercy on him) said: A man said to Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Abbas (may Allah be pleased with them both): I have divorced my wife one hundred times. He said: Count three and leave ninety-seven.

Amr bin Dinar (may Allah have mercy on him) said: Abdullah bin Abbas (may Allah be pleased with them both) was asked about a man who had divorced his wife as many times as the number of the stars. He said: Only the head of al-Jawza' (Gemini) would have sufficed you.

Malik bin al-Harith narrates from Abdullah bin Abbas (may Allah be pleased with them both) that he said: A man came to me and said: "My paternal uncle has divorced his wife three times." He said: "Your uncle disobeyed Allah, so Allah made him regret it; and he obeyed Satan, so no way out was made for him." The man said: "Will someone not make her lawful for him?" He said: "Whoever tries to deceive Allah, Allah will deceive him."

Muhammad bin Abd al-Rahman bin Thawban narrates from Muhammad bin Iyas bin al-Bukayr that a man divorced his wife three times before consummating the marriage; then he decided to marry her, so he came seeking a fatwa, and I went with him to ask on his behalf. He asked Sayyiduna Abu Hurayrah (may Allah be pleased with him) and Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Abbas (may Allah be pleased with them both) about this, and both of them said: We do not think that you may marry her until she marries another husband. He said: My divorce of her was only one. Sayyiduna Ibn Abbas (may Allah be pleased with them both) said: You have let go from your own hand the extra divorces that were yours.
(b) Mu'awiyah bin Abi Ayyash al-Ansari narrates from Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Abbas (may Allah be pleased with them both) that he both permitted the three divorces and enforced them.

Imam al-Shafi'i (may Allah have mercy on him) said: If the meaning of the statement of Abdullah bin Abbas (may Allah be pleased with them both) is that in the time of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) three divorces were counted as one, meaning by the command of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), then it is possible that Abdullah bin Abbas (may Allah be pleased with them both) knew that something had abrogated it. How could Abdullah bin Abbas (may Allah be pleased with them both) narrate something from the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) and then oppose it with something he did not know from the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), and in which there was disagreement?
The Shaykh (may Allah have mercy on him) said: Ikrimah narrates from Ibn Abbas (may Allah be pleased with them both) that abrogation has occurred in this.
Imam al-Shafi'i (may Allah have mercy on him) said: If it is said that Abdullah bin Abbas (may Allah be pleased with them both) agreed with the statement of Umar (may Allah be pleased with him), we will say that Abdullah bin Abbas (may Allah be pleased with them both) differed with Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) on temporary marriage (mut'ah), on selling one dinar for two dinars, and on selling umm walads (slave women who bore their masters' children); how would he agree with him in something in which there was disagreement? If it is said that the time of Abu Bakr and the first two years of Umar (may Allah be pleased with them both) have been mentioned, he says: Allah knows best, since when he was asked for a fatwa he answered contrary to that, as I have described.
Imam al-Shafi'i (may Allah have mercy on him) said: Perhaps Ibn Abbas (may Allah be pleased with them both) said that three are equal to one. Since Allah, the Lord of Might, has left the number of divorces to the husband, to divorce whenever he wishes, one and three are equal, and so is more than three. The Shaykh (may Allah have mercy on him) said: By the triple divorce he may have meant the battah divorce. This is the view of some people.

Abu Zur'ah (may Allah have mercy on him) said: In my view the meaning of this hadith is that what you give today as three divorces, they used to give as one divorce in the time of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), Abu Bakr (may Allah be pleased with him) and Umar (may Allah be pleased with him).
(b) Abu Yahya al-Saji (may Allah have mercy on him) said: When he says to a virgin: You are divorced, you are divorced, you are divorced, it was one divorce; then Umar (may Allah be pleased with him), being strict, counted it as three.

Tawus (may Allah have mercy on him) narrates that a man named Abu al-Sahba' used to ask Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Abbas (may Allah be pleased with them both) a great many questions. He said: Do you not know that when a man divorced his wife three times before consummation, it was counted as only one in the time of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him), of Sayyiduna Abu Bakr, and at the beginning of the caliphate of Sayyiduna Umar (may Allah be pleased with them both)? Sayyiduna Ibn Abbas (may Allah be pleased with them both) said: "Of course! When a man divorced his wife three times before consummation, it was counted as only one in the time of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), of Sayyiduna Abu Bakr, and in the early period of the caliphate of Sayyiduna Umar (may Allah be pleased with them both). Then when Sayyiduna Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) saw that people had begun giving divorces in succession (tatra), he enforced all three."
The Shaykh (may Allah have mercy on him) said: (This is) when he intends to give the three divorces in succession.
(b) Imam al-Sha'bi (may Allah have mercy on him) narrates from Sayyiduna Ibn Abbas (may Allah be pleased with them both) concerning a man who divorced his wife three times before consummation that he said: "It was a knot in his hand which he released all at once; but if they were in succession, then it is nothing."
Imam Sufyan al-Thawri (may Allah have mercy on him) said: "Tatra" means: "You are divorced, you are divorced, you are divorced"; she becomes separated by the first one alone, and the other two are nothing.

Ikrimah narrates from Abdullah bin Abbas (may Allah be pleased with them both) that Abd Yazid, the father of Rukanah and his brothers, divorced Umm Rukanah and married a woman of the Muzaynah tribe. She came to the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) and said: He is of no more use to me than these hairs of the head; may you (peace and blessings be upon him) separate me from him. The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) became angry, so he summoned Rukanah and his brothers, then said to those sitting with him: "Do you see that so-and-so resembles Abd Yazid, and so-and-so in such-and-such?" They said: Yes. The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said to Abd Yazid: "Divorce her." So he divorced her. He (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "Take back your wife Umm Rukanah." He said: O Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him), I divorced her three times. He (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "I know; take her back." And he recited this verse: "O Prophet, when you divorce women, divorce them for their waiting period" [Surah al-Talaq: 1].
(b) Abdullah bin Ali bin Yazid bin Rukanah narrates from his father, from his grandfather, that Rukanah gave his wife the battah divorce (a final, irrevocable divorce), and the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) returned her to him. This is more authentic, because a man's children and household know his affairs better: Rukanah gave his wife only the battah divorce, and the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) counted it as one.

Ikrimah (may Allah have mercy on him) narrates from Sayyiduna Ibn Abbas (may Allah be pleased with them both) that Rukanah (may Allah be pleased with him) divorced his wife three times in a single sitting, and he was greatly distressed over it. Then the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) asked him: "How did you divorce her?" Rukanah (may Allah be pleased with him) said: "I gave three divorces." He (peace and blessings be upon him) asked: "In a single sitting?" He said: "Yes." He (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "That is only one; take her back if you wish." So he took her back. Sayyiduna Ibn Abbas (may Allah be pleased with them both) said that divorce is to be given at the time of purity; this is the way people followed, and Allah, the Lord of Might, commanded it: "Divorce them for their waiting period" [Surah al-Talaq: 1].
This chain cannot serve as proof against eight narrators who reported from Sayyiduna Ibn Abbas (may Allah be pleased with them both) his fatwa contrary to it, nor against the report of the children of Rukanah (may Allah be pleased with him) that his divorce was only one.

Al-A'mash (may Allah have mercy on him) said: There was an old man in Kufah who used to say: I heard Ali bin Abi Talib (may Allah be pleased with him) say: "When a man divorces his wife three times in a single sitting, it is reduced to one." At that time people were flocking to him, coming to him and listening to him. He said: So I went to him and knocked on his door, and an old man came out to me. I said to him: "What did you hear Ali bin Abi Talib (may Allah be pleased with him) say about one who divorces his wife three times in a single sitting?" He said: "I heard Ali bin Abi Talib (may Allah be pleased with him) say: When a man divorces his wife three times in a single sitting, it is reduced to one." I said to him: "Where did you hear this from Ali (may Allah be pleased with him)?" He said: "I will bring out a book for you." He brought it out, and in it was written: 'Bismillahir-Rahmanir-Rahim' (In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful). This is what I heard Ali bin Abi Talib (may Allah be pleased with him) say: When a man divorces his wife three times in a single sitting, she is separated from him and is not lawful for him until she marries another husband. I said: "Woe to you! This is other than what you say." He said: "The correct one is this, but these people pressed me to say that."

Maslamah bin Ja'far al-Ahmasi (may Allah have mercy on him) said: I said to Ja'far bin Muhammad (may Allah have mercy on him): People claim that whoever gives three divorces out of ignorance is to be returned to the Sunnah, that is, they count it as one divorce, and they narrate this from you.
He said: 'Ma'adh Allah' (Allah forbid)! This is not our view: whoever gives three divorces, it is just as he said.

Bassam al-Sayrafi said: I heard Ja'far bin Muhammad (may Allah have mercy on him) say: Whoever divorces his wife three times, whether out of ignorance or knowingly, she becomes separated from him.