Question:
A man gave his wife three divorces in a single statement. What is the ruling on this?
Answer:
When a man divorces his wife three times in a single statement, for example by saying: أنت طالق بالثلاث (You are divorced with three divorces), or by saying: ”أنت مطلقة بالثلاث (You are divorced with three divorces),
then according to the majority of scholars, three divorces take effect on the woman by this statement, and she becomes forbidden to her husband through it, until she marries another man in a marriage made with desire, and not a marriage made merely to make her lawful for the former husband; and the second husband has intercourse with her, then he dies or divorces her and separates from her. They have taken as evidence the ruling of Umar, may Allah be pleased with him, that he enforced such three divorces upon the people.
However, some other scholars hold that this is only one divorce, and the husband has the right to take his wife back during the waiting period, and if the woman has completed her waiting period, she becomes lawful to that man through a new marriage. They have taken as evidence the hadith of Ibn Abbas, may Allah be pleased with them both, in Sahih Muslim. He said:
كان الطلاق على عهد رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم وعهد أبى بكر رضي الله عنه طلاق الثلاث واحدة ، فقال عمر: إن الناس رضي قد استعجلوا فى أمر كانت لهم فيه أناة ، فلو أمضيناه عليهم فأمضاه عليهم
“In the time of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ and in the time of Abu Bakr, may Allah be pleased with him, three divorces were counted as one divorce. Umar, may Allah be pleased with him, said: Indeed people have become hasty in a matter in which they had a time of deliberation and ease, so if we were to enforce it upon them (it would be good). So he enforced it upon them.”
And in another narration in Muslim it is: Abu al-Sahba said to Ibn Abbas, may Allah be pleased with them both: Were three divorces given at once not counted as one during the time of the Prophet ﷺ, Abu Bakr and Umar, may Allah be pleased with them, for three years? Ibn Abbas replied: Yes, why not?
These scholars have also taken as evidence the hadith of Ibn Abbas, mentioned in Musnad Ahmad with a sound chain, that Abu Rukanah divorced his wife three times, then he grieved over it, so the Prophet ﷺ returned his wife to him and said: إنها واحدة “Indeed, it is one divorce.”
Scholars have interpreted this hadith and the preceding hadith as referring to three divorces given in a single statement, so that these two hadiths can be reconciled with the saying of Allah الطلاق مرتن and the saying of Allah, the Mighty and Majestic, فان طلقها فلا تحل له من بعد حتى تنكح زوجا غیرہ.
In one authentic narration from him, Ibn Abbas, may Allah be pleased with them both, holds this same position, while another narration from him also supports the view of the majority of scholars. The view that three divorces given in a single statement count as one divorce is also reported from Ali, Abd al-Rahman ibn Awf and Zubayr ibn al-Awwam, may Allah be pleased with them.
A group of the Tabi’un also holds this view. Muhammad ibn Ishaq, the author of “al-Sirah,” and a group of earlier and later scholars also follow this position, and Shaykh al-Islam Ibn Taymiyyah and his student Ibn al-Qayyim, may Allah have mercy on them, adopted it as well. I also issue this fatwa, because this view acts upon the legal evidences and contains mercy and leniency for the Muslims.
